Austin MotoGP: Marc Marquez unstoppable in Friday practice
Marc Marquez dominated second practice for MotoGP's inaugural race at Austin on Friday
Having already proved unstoppable in pre-season testing at the Texan venue and the Friday morning session, it was little surprise when Marquez led the way again in practice two.
He briefly put himself 1.8 seconds clear of his rivals before his Honda team-mate Dani Pedrosa closed the gap to more respectable levels.
Marquez ended his day with the fastest laps of all: a 2m05.031s and then a second tour just 0.016s slower.
That was over three seconds quicker than in the morning, when cold and windy conditions added to the challenge of the dusty surface and the unfamiliar track.
Second-placed Pedrosa was 0.554s adrift.
Stefan Bradl made it an all-Honda top three as he jumped to third for LCR in the final moments. The German had spent a while on top early on.
He was 1.1s off Marquez's pace, but still half a second clear of the top non-Honda rider, which was Yamaha's Jorge Lorenzo.
His team-mate Valentino Rossi completed the top five, followed by Tech 3's Cal Crutchlow - the quickest of the riders who had not tested at Austin in March.
Andrea Dovizioso lost time when he had to park his primary Ducati at the far end of the track with a mechanical problem. The Italian still managed seventh place.
Nicky Hayden was the quickest of the home riders on the second Ducati, taking ninth behind Alvaro Bautista, and just ahead of Ben Spies.
Aleix Espargaro set the CRT pace in 11th, a second clear of nearest rival Yonny Hernandez.
Espargaro's Aspar team-mate Randy de Puniet had a wild crash in the penultimate complex of corners, but avoided injury despite some scary moments as he balanced on his out-of-control Aprilia on its way to the ground.
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time Gap 1. Marc Marquez Honda 2m05.031s 2. Dani Pedrosa Honda 2m05.585s + 0.554s 3. Stefan Bradl LCR Honda 2m06.173s + 1.142s 4. Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha 2m06.637s + 1.606s 5. Valentino Rossi Yamaha 2m06.868s + 1.837s 6. Cal Crutchlow Tech 3 Yamaha 2m06.899s + 1.868s 7. Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 2m07.236s + 2.205s 8. Alvaro Bautista Gresini Honda 2m07.256s + 2.225s 9. Nicky Hayden Ducati 2m07.699s + 2.668s 10. Ben Spies Pramac Ducati 2m08.034s + 3.003s 11. Aleix Espargaro Aspar Aprilia 2m08.299s + 3.268s 12. Yonny Hernandez PBM Aprilia 2m09.374s + 4.343s 13. Bradley Smith Tech 3 Yamaha 2m09.424s + 4.393s 14. Randy de Puniet Aspar Aprilia 2m09.739s + 4.708s 15. Andrea Iannone Pramac Ducati 2m09.860s + 4.829s 16. Karel Abraham Cardion Aprilia 2m10.411s + 5.380s 17. Claudio Corti Forward FTR-Kawasaki 2m10.720s + 5.689s 18. Hiroshi Aoyama Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m11.183s + 6.152s 19. Danilo Petrucci Ioda-Suter-BMW 2m11.614s + 6.583s 20. Michael Laverty PBM-Aprilia 2m11.828s + 6.797s 21. Lukas Pesek Ioda-Suter-BMW 2m12.230s + 7.199s 22. Bryan Staring Gresini FTR-Honda 2m12.462s + 7.431s 23. Colin Edwards Forward FTR-Kawasaki 2m12.504s + 7.473s 24. Hector Barbera Avintia FTR-Kawasaki 2m12.573s + 7.542s 25. Blake Young Attack APR-Kawasaki 2m13.158s + 8.127s 26. Mike Barnes GPTech BCL-Suzuki 2m16.169s + 11.138s
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