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Marc Marquez tops MotoGP practice two, Jorge Lorenzo only 14th

Marc Marquez led the way for a resurgent Honda in second practice for this weekend's Argentinian MotoGP Grand Prix

Honda struggled throughout pre-season testing with MotoGP's new control electronics, and while Marquez finished the Qatar season opener on the podium, admitted there was still plenty of work to do.

Marquez was second in the opening session at Termas de Rio Hondo on Friday, and led the way in the afternoon as Hondas filled four of the top five places.

By contrast, world champion Jorge Lorenzo looked to struggle with the front end of his Yamaha, and only finished 14th, 1.240 seconds off Marquez's pace.

With wet weather forecast on Saturday and the top 10 riders on the combined practice times automatically advancing to the final phase of qualifying, Lorenzo could face a stern fight to secure a good grid position for Sunday's race.

Marquez was at the top of the order for the bulk of the session, and set the fastest time of the weekend - albeit still nearly four seconds off last year's pole lap - in the closing stages.

His 1m41.579s was nearly half a second up, until team-mate Dani Pedrosa improved to within 0.025s inside the final minute.

Satellite Honda riders also shone, with Marc VDS's Jack Miller fourth and LCR's Cal Crutchlow fourth and fifth, within nine tenths of Marquez.

Suzuki's Maverick Vinales was in the middle of the pack of Hondas, 0.468s behind Marquez, despite falling at Turn 3 halfway through the session.

Both Suzuki riders crashed during the 45 minutes, as the dirty track surface slowly gripped up, with Aleix Espargaro doing so twice on his way to eighth, once at Turn 9, then again at Turn 1.

His brother Pol Espargaro also fell twice and, having been third fastest in the opening session, Yonny Hernandez came to grief early at Turn 13 while chasing the Tech3 Yamaha rider and wound up 17th.

Pramac rider Scott Redding was the best of the Ducatis in sixth, with factory pair Andrea Dovizioso and Andrea Iannone 10th and 15th.

Valentino Rossi fared slightly better than team-mate Lorenzo and finished the session seventh, while Bradley Smith also booked a tentative place in the second phase of qualifying with the ninth-fastest time.

PRACTICE TWO TIMES

Pos Rider Team Bike Time Gap Laps
1 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 1m41.579s - 16
2 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 1m41.604s 0.025s 16
3 Maverick Vinales Suzuki Suzuki 1m42.047s 0.468s 15
4 Jack Miller Marc VDS Honda Honda 1m42.375s 0.796s 17
5 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda 1m42.451s 0.872s 18
6 Scott Redding Pramac Ducati Ducati 1m42.458s 0.879s 18
7 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 1m42.565s 0.986s 19
8 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki Suzuki 1m42.576s 0.997s 12
9 Bradley Smith Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 1m42.595s 1.016s 18
10 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 1m42.635s 1.056s 18
11 Hector Barbera Avintia Ducati Ducati 1m42.664s 1.085s 16
12 Eugene Laverty Aspar Ducati Ducati 1m42.724s 1.145s 14
13 Pol Espargaro Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 1m42.774s 1.195s 16
14 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha 1m42.819s 1.240s 14
15 Andrea Iannone Ducati Ducati 1m42.953s 1.374s 19
16 Loris Baz Avintia Ducati Ducati 1m43.054s 1.475s 18
17 Yonny Hernandez Aspar Ducati Ducati 1m43.242s 1.663s 13
18 Tito Rabat Marc VDS Honda Honda 1m43.538s 1.959s 18
19 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia Aprilia 1m43.800s 2.221s 18
20 Stefan Bradl Aprilia Aprilia 1m43.892s 2.313s 17


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