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| - Miguel Oliveira continued to set the pace in MotoGP when he recorded the fastest time in free practice ahead of the German Grand Prix on Friday. The Portuguese KTM rider, who won the last race in Catalonia, was fastest in the afternoon, when every rider recorded better times than in the morning session. The top 18 were separated by less than a second on a day when the wind created an additional hazard. They had to dodge a twisting column of what appeared to be wisps of grass on Turn 11. The closest challengers to Oliveira's best lap of 1min 20.690sec were the two factory Yamahas. French championship leader Fabio Quartararo was 0.22sec back after outpacing Spanish team-mate Maverick Vinales as the session ended with a flurry of fast laps. After a slow start to the season, KTM changed its chassis and its fuel and Oliveira finished second in Italy before winning in Catalonia. "KTM has made huge progress and Miguel is going super fast, so we have to keep an eye on him," said Quartararo. Quartararo started the day with a spectacular crash in the morning session. Although he walked away holding a shoulder, he seemed not to be suffering any ill effects in the afternoon. Alex Rins of Suzuki returned strongly with a solid fourth. The Barcelona-born rider missed his home race after breaking an arm falling off a bicycle. The Ducati trio who are chasing Quartararo in the standings were all down the field on a track that does not suit the raw speed of their bikes. Frenchman Johann Zarco of satellite team Pramac, who is second in the standings, was eighth, 0.49sec slower than Oliveira. Australian Jack Miller, who is third in the standings, was ninth while his Italian factory Ducati stablemate Francesco Bagnaia was 22nd and slowest, 1.521sec off Oliveira's pace. Miller was the repeatedly fastest through the opening two sectors but could not maintain the pace over the narrow twisty track. Six-time champion Marc Marquez, whose return after missing almost all of last season has been derailed by a string of crashes, was fastest in the morning session on his Honda. It was the first session he's topped this season. But the Spaniard was ony 12th in the afternoon, although that appeared to be partly the result of strategic choices. Marquez, who has won on his 10 previous appearances on the track including seven straight MotoGP victories, tried out different tyre combinations in the session and did not attempt a flying lap at the end. The other star of the sport, 42-year-old Italian Valentino Rossi (Yamaha-SRT), continued his struggles this season and was 21st. ole-pb/dj
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