Le Mans MotoGP: Marquez leads from Iannone in FP2
Marc Marquez remained on top in second MotoGP practice at Le Mans, but only by 0.007 seconds over surprise challenger Andrea Iannone
An initial time-topping effort from Marquez was disallowed because he had exceeded track limits at the final Raccordement corner after running wide on the way.
That came amid a flurry of early changes at the top in which both factory man Andrea Dovizioso and Pramac's Iannone put their Ducatis in front prior to Jorge Lorenzo establishing Yamaha in first with a 1m34.054s.
The loss of Marquez's lap demoted him to ninth for a while, but he restored his superiority with first a 1m33.868s to beat Lorenzo's time, then a 1m33.452s next time around to obliterate the opposition.
Iannone threatened to depose him in the last few minutes, albeit using the extra-soft tyre available to Open class runners while Marquez had set his time on mediums.
The Italian was up on Marquez after three splits, before falling just short of a giant-killing Friday top spot.
Alvaro Bautista jumped up to third with a strong late lap on the Gresini Honda, 0.216s down on Marquez.
It ended up being a muted session for Yamaha on the final timesheets, with Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi back in seventh and 10th. Rossi required a last-gasp improvement to bring himself back into the group guaranteed a Q2 place at present.
Tech 3's Bradley Smith emerged as top Yamaha on his team's home ground in fourth, ahead of the Hondas of Dani Pedrosa and Stefan Bradl.
Scott Redding had the session's only fall, losing his Gresini Honda in a low-side at the end of the back straight. He was unhurt.
Pos Rider Bike Time Gap Laps 1. Marc Marquez Honda 1m33.452s 20 2. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 1m33.459s +0.007s 22 3. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 1m33.668s +0.216s 21 4. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 1m33.920s +0.468s 20 5. Dani Pedrosa Honda 1m33.942s +0.490s 22 6. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 1m34.040s +0.588s 21 7. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 1m34.054s +0.602s 21 8. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1m34.117s +0.665s 19 9. Aleix Espargaro Forward Yamaha 1m34.134s +0.682s 16 10. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1m34.498s +1.046s 21 11. Pol Espargaro Tech 3 Yamaha 1m34.506s +1.054s 23 12. Yonny Hernandez Pramac Ducati 1m34.877s +1.425s 18 13. Cal Crutchlow Ducati 1m34.907s +1.455s 19 14. Nicky Hayden Aspar Honda 1m34.961s +1.509s 19 15. Colin Edwards Forward Yamaha 1m35.089s +1.637s 17 16. Hiroshi Aoyama Aspar Honda 1m35.229s +1.777s 19 17. Scott Redding Gresini Honda 1m35.424s +1.972s 18 18. Karel Abraham Cardion Honda 1m35.818s +2.366s 19 19. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m36.418s +2.966s 20 20. Mike di Meglio Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 1m36.612s +3.160s 18 21. Michael Laverty PBM Aprilia 1m36.742s +3.290s 19 22. Broc Parkes PBM Aprilia 1m37.136s +3.684s 11
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