Andrea Dovizioso took over at the top of the timesheets on Friday afternoon but FP2 wasn’t without its problems for the factory Ducati team. The Italian led a closely-packed top ten ahead of morning pacesetter Maverick Vinales but his team-mate Jorge Lorenzo finds himself outside of the Q2 spots after another dramatic high-side late in the session.
Lorenzo was already starting the weekend battered and bruised after the heavy accident at the start of the Aragon GP which left him with a broken toe. To make matters worse, the Spaniard appeared to suffer a mechanical fault on his Ducati under braking for turn three which caused his machine to lock up, catapulting Jorge from his motorcycle. The five-time champion was later diagnosed with contusions to his wrist and right ankle and will assess his condition in FP3 tomorrow before deciding whether to continue in the event.
With Xavier Simeon crashing shortly afterwards on fluid spilled from the no.99 Ducati, the session was temporarily suspended while the track was inspected. Once conditions were deemed safe enough for further running, Dovizioso raised Bologna spirits by clocking a 1:31.090, three hundredths of a second quicker than Vinales.
Cal Crutchlow rose to third in the dying seconds, earning him the honour of top Honda rider ahead of championship leader Marc Marquez who chose not to run a new tyre late in the session. Danilo Petrucci was fifth ahead of Andrea Iannone while Alvaro Bautista held onto a provisional Q2 spot in seventh despite joining the list of riders to tumble at turn three.
Dani Pedrosa, the quickest rider in pre-season testing here, was eighth fastest while Valentino Rossi and Johann Zarco continued to offer encouragement for Yamaha that a more competitive weekend may be in the offing, the duo rounding out the top ten. Should Jorge Lorenzo run in FP3, he will need to improve on 16th to secure a Q2 place.
2018 PTT Thailand Grand Prix (Combined Practice Times)
[table id=3494 /]
