Ducati MotoGP rider Marc Marquez was quickest again in the second practice session of the Argentine Grand Prix, breaking the Termas de Rio Hondo lap record in the process.
Key moments:
- Marquez leads Ducati 1-2-3
- Bagnaia narrowly avoids Q1 after crash
- All five manufacturers in Q2 - including both works Yamahas
The lap record had belonged to him already - but that previous one had been set all the way back in 2014, on Bridgestone rubber, and stood as the premier class's oldest lap record on the current calendar.
With the expected big step in track conditions relative to the morning, Marquez was already flirting with a new lap record even before the customary late-session time attacks kicked off, while he was still lapping on a medium rear.
And in the end he unsurprisingly came through, first with a 1m37.438s and then with a last-second 1m37.295s - which he did need to remain top of the timing screens.
That earlier 1m37.4s benchmark was surpassed by Fabio Di Giannantonio (VR46 Ducati), albeit with the caveat that Di Giannantonio himself improved while in the pack of riders behind Marquez on that final record-setting lap.
Alex Marquez (Gresini Ducati) made it a Desmosedici 1-2-3, followed by lead Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi and lead KTM rider Brad Binder.
Yamaha rider Alex Rins rubberstamped a surprise Q2 appearance by tucking in behind Marquez on that first record soft-tyre lap, while team-mate Fabio Quartararo battled the odds to join him in Q2.
LATE DRAMA! @PeccoBagnaia has gone down with less than 5 minutes to go 💥😱#ArgentinaGP 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/B5j65xSOZo
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 14, 2025
Quartararo had planned to take a page out of Rins' playbook by following Marquez's team-mate Pecco Bagnaia - only for Bagnaia to crash immediately at Turn 2. But the loss of the reference point didn't deter the Frenchman, who ended the session with the eighth-fastest time.
His compatriot Johann Zarco was one spot ahead as the lead LCR Honda, having looked like a frontrunner all day until he crashed at that same Turn 2 in his very first 'qualifying' run - but then successfully shrugging off that crash.
Everything was going smoothly for @JohannZarco1 until this moment! But he's already back on his feet 💥💪#ArgentinaGP 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/AP8XpTd9lZ
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) March 14, 2025
The final two spots directly in Q2 went to Pedro Acosta and Bagnaia, the latter just narrowly hanging on to that all-important 10th after his crash - by 0.021s over rookie Ai Ogura.
Advancing to Q2: M Marquez, Di Giannantonio, A Marquez, Bezzecchi, Binder, Rins, Zarco, Quartararo, Acosta, Bagnaia
Competing in Q1: Ogura, Morbidelli, Mir, Miller, Marini, Vinales, Aldeguer, Oliveira, Chantra, Fernandez, Bastianini, Savadori
