Vinales strikes back in Aragon MotoGP FP2, Marquez takes a tumble

Marc Marquez retained a clear top spot at the head of the timesheets following Friday’s practice sessions for the Aragon MotoGP at Motorland Aragon, despite ceding the top time in FP2 following a fall.

The champion-elect – who comes into the weekend with a huge 93-point lead over Andrea Dovizioso – had looked to follow up an astonishing morning effort of 1m 46.869s with a similarly formidable performance in FP2 but denied himself the chance when he fell at Turn 8.

A rare mistake by the Repsol Honda rider, though Marquez sat fourth on the FP2 timesheets, he remains well clear of the opposition on the combined classification, 1.2secs up on Maverick Vinales who posted a 1m 48.014s

Indeed, though Vinales led a Yamaha 1-2-3 from team-mate Valentino Rossi – up from 17th in FP1 - and Fabio Quartararo, there will be some head-scratching overnight to ascertain why there is such a mammoth margin to the dominant Marquez.

Saturday rain to scupper FP3 improvements?

A closely contested session that could take on greater importance should forecast rain come to spoil the chances of improvements in the Q2-deciding FP3 session tomorrow, Pol Espargaro once again demonstrated the KTM’s impressive single lap pace with a fast fifth, ahead of Jack Miller on the best of the Ducatis.

After a quiet FP1, Cal Crutchlow was a competitive seventh aboard the LCR Honda, ahead of Dovizioso, while Suzuki’s Joan Mir and Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro will hope for that rain to come so as to assure their direct passages into Q2.

By contrast, Alex Rins – outpaced in both sessions by rookie team-mate Mir - will be frustrated to have missed out on the top ten by just 0.033s – while Danilo Petrucci appears destined for another tough weekend as he struggled again in 12th.

Elsewhere, Mika Kallio enjoyed a solid start to his MotoGP return in 17th position – ahead of both satellite Tech 3 KTMs – while Jorge Lorenzo showed gains in FP2 but remains well down the order in 20th position.