Friday’s second 70-minute session at the Buddh International Circuit was delayed by around 45 minutes due to some logistical issues affecting the beginning of the earlier Moto3 FP2.
Once action got underway, Marini guided his year-old Ducati to a 1m44.782s to lead Pramac’s Jorge Martin by 0.008 seconds.
In a first for the 2023 season, both factory Honda riders have secured a place in Q2 for Saturday’s qualifying, after Marc Marquez was fourth and team-mate Joan Mir 10th.
Joining them will be Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, who cast aside his difficult FP1 to secure a place in Q2 for the first time since the Austrian GP weekend.
The new Buddh layout continued to prove tricky for riders when second practice got underway, as KTM’s Jack Miller crashed at Turn 12 in the opening moments.
The Australian struggled for pace all afternoon and was only 18th at the chequered flag.
FP1 pacesetter Marco Bezzecchi on the sister VR46 Ducati set the initial pace at 1m46.674s, before Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro leaped up to top spot with a 1m46.387s inside the first 10 minutes of the session.
Source: Autosport