Marc Marquez sets the benchmark in second Argentina MotoGP practice

Marc Marquez set the benchmark lap time in the second Argentina MotoGP practice, completing the double to round off a perfect Friday.

The factory Ducati rider rounded off a perfect day by topping both Friday practice sessions and setting a new all-time lap record of 1.37.295s.

His nearest challenger was fellow GP25 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio, who banked second place in the dying embers of the session.

The younger brother Alex Marquez secured third place, completing a Ducati top-three sweep, with all three positions held by riders from the three Ducati teams.

Marco Bezzecchi posted an impressive time of 1.37.510s to seal fourth place for Aprilia, with his recorded time becoming the first to break the all-time record.

Fifth and sixth places went to KTM rider Brad Binder and Yamahas Alex Rins, both of whom trailed the factory Ducati duo for a tow, adding extra tenths to their respective lap times.

Johann Zarco finished on seventh to finish as the lead Honda rider once again, where he sandwiched himself between the factory Yamaha duo.

Fabio Quartararo tried the same tow strategy as Rins on the factory Ducati, but while following Francesco Bagnaia, the Italian rider crashed out at Turn 2.

Quartararo himself finished eighth in the session, but Bagnaia scraped through into Q2 by finishing in the last automatic qualifying spot.

Pedro Acosta suffered a late crash when riders were completing their outlaps, but dragged his Austrian marque to Q2 to accompany teammate Brad Binder.

Ai Ogura was the nearest challenger to miss out on the second phase of qualifying, but finished ahead of VR46 Ducati rider Franco Morbidelli.

Jack Miller established 14th place for Pramac Yamaha, placing himself in the middle of a factory Honda sandwich comprising of Joan Mir and Luca Marini.

Maverick Vinales finished in 16th place as he continued his adjustment to the KTM, finishing one second behind Marquez’s time attack.

Rookie Fermin Aldeguer established 17th place for Gresini, improving on Miguel Oliveria’s lap by over three tenths of a second.

Somkiat Chantra improved from his performance in the first practice to finish 19th, as the rookie posted a time faster than those of Raul Fernandez and Enea Bastianini.

Once again, Aprilia test rider Lorenzo Savadori finished the session in last spot, stepping in for Jorge Martin this weekend as the Spaniard recovers from injury.