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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