Miller fastest but half-wet track means little running

Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller topped a rain-disrupted second practice session ahead of MotoGP’s Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring.

Miller’s best time on a drying track was seven tenths off the slowest effort in FP1, meaning that the second session has had no impact on the combined classification top 10 – which after FP3 will determine which riders go into Q2 automatically.

This means that, should it rain on Saturday morning, the likes of Yamaha works riders Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi, as well as Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci and KTM’s new race winner Brad Binder, would have to battle through Q1.

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After rain hit the circuit during Moto3 practice, MotoGP’s second session kicked off with the track conditions varying from corner to corner, with the surface appearing bone dry in some sections yet very wet on the two straights between Turn 1 and Turn 4, and subsequently at Turn 9 and the pitlane entry too.

Sophomore riders Joan Mir and Miguel Oliveira, and rookie Alex Marquez were alone in taking to the track in the first 15 minutes, with all three swiftly returning to the pits – albeit with the latter posting a nominal 1m39.484s laptime.

The middle part of the session was virtually barren, save for a three-lap run from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro that left him a second off Oliveira – but the session roared into life in the final 10 minutes, as many riders ventured out of the pits, first on wets and soon on slicks.

Zarco lowered Oliveira’s benchmark by five seconds, before Marquez, Vinales and Miller took turns in the top spot.

And it was the latter who got to grips with the conditions the quickest, Miller improving to a 1m26.475s as the chequered flag flew to secure the top spot by what would ultimately be three quarters of a second.

Iker Lecuona moved up to second at the last moment, while his team-mate Miguel Oliveira made it two Tech3 KTM bikes in the top three. Their factory KTM counterparts, Binder and Pol Espargaro, were the only riders not to record a laptime.

Suzuki duo Alex Rins and Joan Mir were fourth and sixth respectively, split by Zarco.

Practice 2 Results