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MotoGP, FP2: Marquez rules in the wet, ahead of the Ducatis

The Spaniard closes ahead of a surprising Redding, then Petrucci, Lorenzo and Dovizioso; Rossi 10th, Iannone, Zarco and Vinales outside the top ten

MotoGP: FP2: Marquez rules in the wet, ahead of the Ducatis

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Rain showed up and ruined the afternoon at the Red Bull Ring, putting paid to teams' plans. The rain forced riders to remain in the garage for almost half an hour during this second session.

With twenty minutes to go, the first warriors headed out looking to set a fast time. The best of FP2 proved to be Marc Marquez, who set a reference of 1’33”995. The Spaniard completed seven laps and was the only rider able to duck under the 1’34” barrier.

Behind him a surprising Scott Redding. In wet conditions, the Aprilia rider showed great confidence on his RS-GP, finishing half a second from the six-time champion (+0.543). The Red Bull Ring has always been a Ducati stronghold and once again today the red bikes were up at the sharp end. Danilo Petrucci (+0.986) places third, followed by the factory GP18s of Jorge Lorenzo (+1.493) and Andrea Dovizioso (+1.516), roughly a second and a half back.

Nothing to worry about though, as taking risks in these conditions would not make sense. This doesn't take away from the fact that Marquez' performance in the wet is impressive. over to the Yamaha camp and Valentino Rossi completed 14 laps, just like Alex Rins and Johann Zarco. At the session's end, the Doctor was lying tenth, behind Cal Crutchlow (+2.207) and more than two seconds from the front (+2.332). Things were worse for Johann Zarco, just fifteenth ahead of the Aprilia of Aleix Espargarò, while Maverick Vinales is down in twentieth, after completing eight laps.

Back to the top half of the timesheet and the KTM of Bradley Smith stands out in sixth place (+1.975), followed closely by Jack Miller, while Andrea Iannone just misses out on the top ten, as do Xavier Simeon and Franco Morbidelli. Dani Pedrosa is in last position.

   

Translated by Heather Watson
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