MotoGP

Bagnaia ruled out after crash, Quartararo fastest in FP2

by Matt Beer
3 min read

MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo snatched the top spot in second Brno practice away from Petronas SRT Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli in the final moments.

Just 0.007s separated the pair in an ultra-close end to the Friday afternoon practice session for the Czech Grand Prix.

The top four was covered by only 0.081s – with KTM starring again as Tech3 rider Miguel Oliveira took third, and Johann Zarco repeating his morning achievement of being top Ducati as he put the firm’s third-string squad Avintia in fourth place.

There was bad news for another satellite Ducati team, though, with Pramac losing Francesco Bagnaia for at least this weekend’s event following his morning crash.

Bagnaia, whose chances of a 2021 promotion to the factory Ducati team have increased in recent weeks amid the stalemate over Andrea Dovizioso’s future, fell at the first corner right at the end of first practice.

He was initially checked in the circuit medical centre before being transferred to hospital for further evaluation.

The Race understands Bagnaia requires surgery on a broken tibia and will return home to Italy for it.

He may well miss all of the triple-header that begins with Brno this weekend and continues with two Red Bull Ring races.

Ducati test rider Michele Pirro is the most likely stand-in, and could be on duty for Pramac at Brno as soon as tomorrow.

Jack Miller was 10th quickest on the only Pramac bike to run in practice two, with the factory Ducatis of Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Dovizioso down in 14th and 15th.

As the SRT Yamahas took the top spots, their factory counterparts Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi were fifth and 12th respectively.

All MotoGP’s manufacturers were represented in the top 10. Suzuki led much of the session with Joan Mir before he was pushed back to sixth, and Aprilia began to show some of its potential with Aleix Espargaro in seventh.

Morning pacesetter Takaaki Nakagami was top Honda down in ninth for LCR.

The rest of the Hondas were near the foot of the pack – factory riders Alex Marquez and Stefan Bradl down in 16th and 21st, and Nakagami’s team-mate Cal Crutchlow 18th.

Practice 2 Results

Pos Name Team Bike Gap Next Gap Leader Best Time
1 Fabio Quartararo Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha 1m56.502s
2 Franco Morbidelli Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha +0.007s +0.007s 1m56.509s
3 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Tech 3 KTM +0.041s +0.048s 1m56.55s
4 Johann Zarco Avintia Racing Ducati +0.033s +0.081s 1m56.583s
5 Maverick Viñales Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha +0.085s +0.166s 1m56.668s
6 Joan Mir Team Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +0.208s +0.374s 1m56.876s
7 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia +0.165s +0.539s 1m57.041s
8 Pol Espargaró Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.018s +0.557s 1m57.059s
9 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda Honda +0.014s +0.571s 1m57.073s
10 Jack Miller Pramac Racing Ducati +0.036s +0.607s 1m57.109s
11 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.17s +0.777s 1m57.279s
12 Valentino Rossi Yamaha Factory Racing Yamaha +0.011s +0.788s 1m57.29s
13 Alex Rins Team Suzuki MotoGP Suzuki +0.064s +0.852s 1m57.354s
14 Danilo Petrucci Ducati Team Ducati +0.266s +1.118s 1m57.62s
15 Andrea Dovizioso Ducati Team Ducati +0.015s +1.133s 1m57.635s
16 Alex Marquez Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.053s +1.186s 1m57.688s
17 Tito Rabat Avintia Racing Ducati +0.089s +1.275s 1m57.777s
18 Cal Crutchlow LCR Honda Honda +0.088s +1.363s 1m57.865s
19 Bradley Smith Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia +0.296s +1.659s 1m58.161s
20 Iker Lecuona Red Bull KTM Tech 3 KTM +0.217s +1.876s 1m58.378s
21 Stefan Bradl Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.046s +1.922s 1m58.424s
22 Francesco Bagnaia Pramac Racing Ducati
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