Pramac Ducati Johann Zarco was fastest again in second practice for MotoGP’s Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.
Zarco repeated his morning timesheet-topping performance as he put in a 1m29.475s lap to set the pace by 0.038 seconds.
He narrowly deposed VR46 Ducati rider Marco Bezzecchi – a first-time polesitter at Buriram last time out. Bezzecchi had twice led the way in the late sprint for qualifying-style times.
Honda had another encouraging session. Marc Marquez was fastest for the majority of it, and though he only managed sixth in the end, his team-mate Pol Espargaro was third quickest and just 0.052s from the top.
Championship leader Fabio Quartararo had a relatively low-key day until the last few minutes, when he went fastest for a spell before ending up fourth for Yamaha.
His title rivals Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia) and Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) were seventh and eighth.
Espargaro’s team-mate Maverick Vinales was a frontrunner throughout, ending up fifth.
Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin currently hold the remaining automatic Q2 spots.
Local favourite Jack Miller, who had been a close second to Zarco in the morning, was only 13th in practice two.
Joan Mir made several appearances near the front on his second attempt to return to action following the injury he picked up at the Austrian GP in August. He finished the day 12th and top Suzuki.
KTM – winner in the rain in Thailand a fortnight ago with Miguel Oliveira – didn’t have any bikes in the top 10 on Friday, Oliveira its best representative in 11th.
Times are once again ferociously close, with 18th-placed RNF Yamaha rider Cal Crutchlow only 0.731s from pacesetter Zarco.
Practice 2 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johann Zarco | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m29.475s | ||
| 2 | Marco Bezzecchi | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | +0.038s | +0.038s | 1m29.513s |
| 3 | Pol Espargaró | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.014s | +0.052s | 1m29.527s |
| 4 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.087s | +0.139s | 1m29.614s |
| 5 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | +0.131s | +0.27s | 1m29.745s |
| 6 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.03s | +0.3s | 1m29.775s |
| 7 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | +0.057s | +0.357s | 1m29.832s |
| 8 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.006s | +0.363s | 1m29.838s |
| 9 | Enea Bastianini | Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | +0.011s | +0.374s | 1m29.849s |
| 10 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.032s | +0.406s | 1m29.881s |
| 11 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.042s | +0.448s | 1m29.923s |
| 12 | Joan Mir | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.021s | +0.469s | 1m29.944s |
| 13 | Jack Miller | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.077s | +0.546s | 1m30.021s |
| 14 | Alex Marquez | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda | +0.067s | +0.613s | 1m30.088s |
| 15 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.011s | +0.624s | 1m30.099s |
| 16 | Alex Rins | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.039s | +0.663s | 1m30.138s |
| 17 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | +0.02s | +0.683s | 1m30.158s |
| 18 | Cal Crutchlow | WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team | Yamaha | +0.048s | +0.731s | 1m30.206s |
| 19 | Franco Morbidelli | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.413s | +1.144s | 1m30.619s |
| 20 | Luca Marini | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | +0.106s | +1.25s | 1m30.725s |
| 21 | Raul Fernandez | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.116s | +1.366s | 1m30.841s |
| 22 | Remy Gardner | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.099s | +1.465s | 1m30.94s |
| 23 | Darryn Binder | WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team | Yamaha | +0.138s | +1.603s | 1m31.078s |
| 24 | Tetsuta Nagashima | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | +0.499s | +2.102s | 1m31.577s |
