For the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday morning, Honda racer Marc Marquez won the red-flagged rainy second free practise session.
The 45-minute second practise began on schedule at 10.50am local time on a wet racetrack despite the possibility of a typhoon hanging over Saturday’s events.
Johann Zarco of Pramac Ducati took the lead after the first 10 minutes of racing with a time of 1m58.054s, but his reign at the top of the standings would be brief as riders gained experience with the track.
When the red flag was raised with just over 12 minutes left to clear away debris after Pol Espargaro of Honda’s accident, teammate Marquez was in the lead with a time of 1m55.232s.
Before the brief interruption, Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin had reduced Marc Marquez’s lead over the pack from nearly a second to just 0.144 seconds.
Marquez’s benchmark would remain unchallenged until the finish line once the session resumed.
Martin stayed in second place behind KTM’s Miguel Oliveira and Ducati’s Jack Miller, who now leads the overall standings after winning Friday’s dry practise session.
Zarco finished in sixth place on the second Pramac Ducati, although he will compete in Round One after crashing in Free Practice 1.
Alex Marquez (LCR Honda), Luca Marini (VR46 Ducati), Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati), and Fabio Quartararo were the next four riders, with Franco Morbidelli, the top Yamaha rider, finishing sixth (Yamaha).
Another racer who will have to face Q1 is Bastianini, whose fall in FP1 dropped him to 14th overall.
Aleix Espargaro of Aprilia finished FP2 in 11th place, but due to his strong performance on Friday, he will advance through to Q2, along with fellow championship contenders Quartaro and Francesco Bagnaia, who finished 15th for Ducati.
Honda’s Marquez and Pol Espargaro, KTM’s Brad Binder and Oliveira, Marini, and Maverick Vinales’ second Aprilia—who was the 18th-fastest driver on Saturday morning—all have free passes to Q2.
After a collision, Binder was 24th fastest. The South African lost control of his RC16 at Turn 3 just before the red flag appeared.
| Cla | # | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 93 | Marc Marquez | Honda | 1’55.232 | |
| 2 | 89 | Jorge Martin | Ducati | 1’55.376 | 0.144 |
| 3 | 43 | Jack Miller | Ducati | 1’55.387 | 0.155 |
| 4 | 88 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM | 1’55.428 | 0.196 |
| 5 | 5 | Johann Zarco | Ducati | 1’55.630 | 0.398 |
| 6 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Yamaha | 1’56.168 | 0.936 |
| 7 | 23 | Enea Bastianini | Ducati | 1’56.197 | 0.965 |
| 8 | 73 | Alex Marquez | Honda | 1’56.349 | 1.117 |
| 9 | 10 | Luca Marini | Ducati | 1’56.548 | 1.316 |
| 10 | 20 | Fabio Quartararo | Yamaha | 1’56.561 | 1.329 |
| 11 | 41 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | 1’56.577 | 1.345 |
| 12 | 49 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Ducati | 1’56.588 | 1.356 |
| 13 | 72 | Marco Bezzecchi | Ducati | 1’56.655 | 1.423 |
| 14 | 35 | Cal Crutchlow | Yamaha | 1’56.743 | 1.511 |
| 15 | 63 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati | 1’56.752 | 1.520 |
| 16 | 87 | Remy Gardner | KTM | 1’56.851 | 1.619 |
| 17 | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Honda | 1’56.874 | 1.642 |
| 18 | 12 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia | 1’56.925 | 1.693 |
| 19 | 44 | Pol Espargaro | Honda | 1’57.003 | 1.771 |
| 20 | 25 | Raúl Fernández | KTM | 1’57.292 | 2.060 |
| 21 | 40 | Darryn Binder | Yamaha | 1’57.606 | 2.374 |
| 22 | 45 | Tetsuta Nagashima | Honda | 1’57.656 | 2.424 |
| 23 | 42 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | 1’57.671 | 2.439 |
| 24 | 33 | Brad Binder | KTM | 1’57.827 | 2.595 |
| 25 | 85 | Takuya Tsuda | Suzuki | 1’58.631 | 3.399 |
| VIEW FULL RESULTS |
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