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Practice report

Thailand MotoGP: Dovizioso tops FP2, Lorenzo suffers huge shunt

Andrea Dovizioso topped second MotoGP practice for the inaugural Thailand Grand Prix as Ducati teammate Jorge Lorenzo suffered a huge crash mid-way through the session.

Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team

Andrea Dovizioso, Ducati Team

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Honda’s Marc Marquez wasted no time when the session got underway, immediately moving to the top of the timesheets with a 1m31.904s flyer, before posting a 1m31.188s lap to move further clear of the chasing pack.

That time remained unbeaten until the final four minutes when FP1 pacesetter Maverick Vinales improved by just 0.067s to seize the top spot.

Dovizioso then managed to go quicker still, breaking the 1m31.1s barrier to end the session with the fastest time. However, his time of 1m31.090s was more than a second slower than what Dani Pedrosa managed in pre-season testing earlier this year.

Behind Dovizioso and Vinales, LCR’s Cal Crutchlow ended third-fastest, knocking off Marquez with a late flyer of 1m31.164s.

Marquez experimented with the soft rear tyre for his final run but was unable to improve on his previous benchmark, ending up 0.050s quicker than Danilo Petrucci in fifth and a further 0.018s clear of top Suzuki rider Andrea Iannone.

Alvaro Bautista was classified seventh ahead of Pedrosa, who shadowed Marquez in a Repsol Honda 1-2 in the early part of the session before slipping down the order.

Valentino Rossi finished ninth fastest, less than three tenths off his teammate, while the top 10 was completed by Tech 3 rider Johann Zarco.

Lorenzo was braking into the turn 3 right-hander when he suddenly lost control of his Ducati, suffering a scary highside crash that left his bike torn into half.

The Spaniard was able to sit down without assistance but needed a stretcher to be escorted to the medical centre for precautionary checks.

It remains unclear if he aggravated injuries - which includes a dislocated toe and a fractured bone in his right leg - that he sustained in a similar highside at the start of the Aragon GP a fortnight ago.

He was deemed fit after early checks, but is now subject to further examination.

Xavier Simeon crashed at the same corner minutes later, bringing out a brief red flag as marshals cleared debris and oil from the track.

FP2 results:

Cla # Rider Bike Time Gap
1 4 Italy Andrea Dovizioso  Ducati 1'31.090  
2 25 Spain Maverick Viñales  Yamaha 1'31.121 0.031
3 35 United Kingdom Cal Crutchlow  Honda 1'31.164 0.074
4 93 Spain Marc Marquez  Honda 1'31.188 0.098
5 9 Italy Danilo Petrucci  Ducati 1'31.238 0.148
6 29 Italy Andrea Iannone  Suzuki 1'31.256 0.166
7 19 Spain Alvaro Bautista  Ducati 1'31.378 0.288
8 26 Spain Dani Pedrosa  Honda 1'31.385 0.295
9 46 Italy Valentino Rossi  Yamaha 1'31.398 0.308
10 5 France Johann Zarco  Yamaha 1'31.421 0.331
11 43 Australia Jack Miller  Ducati 1'31.486 0.396
12 21 Italy Franco Morbidelli  Honda 1'31.647 0.557
13 30 Japan Takaaki Nakagami  Honda 1'31.714 0.624
14 38 United Kingdom Bradley Smith  KTM 1'31.841 0.751
15 42 Spain Alex Rins  Suzuki 1'31.929 0.839
16 99 Spain Jorge Lorenzo  Ducati 1'32.027 0.937
17 41 Spain Aleix Espargaro  Aprilia 1'32.067 0.977
18 55 Malaysia Hafizh Syahrin  Yamaha 1'32.177 1.087
19 17 Czech Republic Karel Abraham  Ducati 1'32.403 1.313
20 44 Spain Pol Espargaro  KTM 1'32.475 1.385
21 45 United Kingdom Scott Redding  Aprilia 1'32.650 1.560
22 12 Switzerland Thomas Luthi  Honda 1'32.661 1.571
23 10 Belgium Xavier Simeon  Ducati 1'32.989 1.899
24 81 Spain Jordi Torres  Ducati 1'33.503 2.413

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