Miguel Oliveira fastest in FP2, Marc Marquez outside the top ten

Catalunya MotoGP race winner Miguel Oliveira topped an intriguing day-one of free practice at Sachsenring. 

It was ten-time Sachsenring race winner Marc Marquez who was fastest during this morning’s FP1 session. 

And until the time-attacks began in FP2, Marquez was once again leading the way. However, the Spaniard chose not to fit a new soft rear tyre like the majority of riders did, which resulted in him missing out on the top ten. 

The final ten minutes saw a flurry of fast laps, but it was the session’s early pacesetter Oliveira who stuck in a blistering time of 1:20.690s to go top - only rider to set a sub 1m 21s lap. 

Oliveira’s quickest time displaced the two factory Yamaha riders who had momentarily gone 1-2. 

Quartararo finished second as was the case in FP1, while Vinales took third - seven places better than FP1. 

Alex Rins had an impressive return to action as he confirmed his top ten place from this morning by finishing fourth. 

Fifth fastest was Pol Espargaro who had another mixed day aboard his Repsol Honda. 

When on the bike, Espargaro showed impressive pace as he finished both sessions inside the top five, however, crashes continued to plague his running. 

The former KTM rider suffered a second crash of the day during FP2 as he lost the front at turn three.

LCR Honda rider Takaaki Nakagami also consolidated his top ten performance from FP1 by taking sixth place on combined times. 

Rounding out the top ten was Aleix Espargaro in seventh, the Ducatis of Johann Zarco and Jack Miller - eighth and ninth respectively, while Franco Morbidelli was tenth. 

Marquez ultimately finished the session in 12th, while Valentino Rossi’s difficult opening day at Sachsenring continued with a turn one crash. The Italian was 20th in FP1 and 21st in FP2.

Luca Marini was another rider who went down (twice), as he suffered falls at turn 13 and turn 7.