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Sachsenring MotoGP: Suzuki's Maverick Vinales crashes but fastest

Maverick Vinales led the way for Suzuki in second practice for MotoGP's German Grand Prix, despite a high-speed crash at the Sachsenring

Friday morning's first practice session was effectively cut by rain, and another sprinkle also threatened the afternoon running.

But that cleared and despite a slow start it was a largely normal session, with Vinales at the top of the order for the bulk of the 45 minutes.

As times improved, he was the first to lap below the 1m24s barrier with a 1m23.601s, then improved three times again before doing the same with the 1m23s, setting a 1m22.804s.

He crashed at Turn 11 with 18 minutes remaining while leading Honda's Marc Marquez by 0.162 seconds.

Just after Vinales returned to the track 10 minutes later, Marquez moved into top spot with a 1m22.775s, but Vinales showed no signs of being affected by his fall, setting a 1m22.554s almost immediately.

Vinales improved twice more in the closing stages, his 1m22.161s good enough to lead the session by 0.220s over Ducati's Andrea Iannone.

Having set the pace in first practice, Iannone improved several times late while running behind Vinales.

He was one of six Ducatis in the top 10, joined by team-mate Andrea Dovizioso in fifth and satellite riders Hector Barbera, Danilo Petrucci, Scott Redding and Yonny Hernandez filling seventh through to 10th.

Marquez would up third, just ahead of LCR Honda's Cal Crutchlow, while Vinales's Suzuki team-mate Aleix Espargaro was the other non-Ducati rider in the top 10 in sixth.

It was a quiet session for Yamaha's title contenders Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo, and Honda's Dani Pedrosa.

Rossi could only manage the 14th-fastest time, just ahead of Pedrosa and Lorenzo, who was nursing a swollen left hand after his heavy crash on Friday morning and finished 1.663s off Vinales' pace.

Tito Rabat joined Vinales in crashing at Turn 11 on his way to 19th, one spot ahead of Eugene Laverty, who fell at Turn 1 late in the session.

PRACTICE TWO TIMES

Pos Rider Team Bike Time Gap Laps
1 Maverick Vinales Suzuki Suzuki 1m22.161s - 17
2 Andrea Iannone Ducati Ducati 1m22.381s 0.220s 20
3 Marc Marquez Honda Honda 1m22.775s 0.614s 18
4 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda 1m22.817s 0.656s 20
5 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Ducati 1m22.930s 0.769s 17
6 Aleix Espargaro Suzuki Suzuki 1m22.953s 0.792s 19
7 Hector Barbera Avintia Ducati Ducati 1m23.015s 0.854s 20
8 Danilo Petrucci Pramac Ducati Ducati 1m23.053s 0.892s 19
9 Scott Redding Pramac Ducati Ducati 1m23.061s 0.900s 22
10 Yonny Hernandez Aspar Ducati Ducati 1m23.123s 0.962s 16
11 Pol Espargaro Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 1m23.400s 1.239s 24
12 Bradley Smith Tech3 Yamaha Yamaha 1m23.460s 1.299s 20
13 Jack Miller Marc VDS Honda Honda 1m23.485s 1.324s 17
14 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Yamaha 1m23.534s 1.373s 19
15 Dani Pedrosa Honda Honda 1m23.740s 1.579s 18
16 Jorge Lorenzo Yamaha Yamaha 1m23.824s 1.663s 13
17 Alvaro Bautista Aprilia Aprilia 1m23.958s 1.797s 19
18 Stefan Bradl Aprilia Aprilia 1m24.116s 1.955s 15
19 Tito Rabat Marc VDS Honda Honda 1m24.746s 2.585s 20
20 Eugene Laverty Aspar Ducati Ducati 1m24.911s 2.750s 12
21 Loris Baz Avintia Ducati Ducati 1m25.049s 2.888s 18


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