Petronas SRT Yamaha repeated its 1-2 from last year’s Jerez MotoGP qualifying session in second practice at this year’s opener, but the sweltering tempeatures meant the times still don’t get Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo straight into Q2.
Quartararo – who was parked for 20 minutes of the morning session as a punishment for breaching MotoGP’s private test rules with a recent run on a Yamaha Superbike at Paul Ricard – was quickest for most of the afternoon session.
Team-mate Morbidelli was 0.027s quicker when both improved at the end and grabbed the top spot.
But Morbidelli’s 1m38.125s was two tenths slower than the time that put him only 11th in the morning’s cooler conditions, so neither he nor Quartararo has yet earned a place in the top 10 combined times that will allow them to skip Q1 tomorrow.
World champion Marc Marquez had his first practice crash of the year, but rapidly remounted to go fourth-fastest.
His Honda team-mate and brother Alex also fell during the session and was 1.3s slower in 21st place.
KTM’s rookie signing Brad Binder produced a startling lap to take third place, with team-mate Pol Espargaro backing him up in fifth – just ahead of the man he is effectively nudging out of the Honda fold next season, Cal Crutchlow.
Valentino Rossi has been off the pace all day and was down in 20th in this session. His works Yamaha team-mate Maverick Vinales took seventh.
Top Ducati was the older-spec Avintia model of Johann Zarco in eighth, a place ahead of Andrea Dovizioso’s factory Desmosedici. Francesco Bagnaia completed the top 10 on Pramac’s Ducati.
The Suzukis were only 14th and 16th this time with Alex Rins and Joan Mir, sandwiching the top Aprilia of Aleix Esparagaro.
Practice 2 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Franco Morbidelli | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | 1m38.125s | ||
| 2 | Fabio Quartararo | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.027s | +0.027s | 1m38.152s |
| 3 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.098s | +0.125s | 1m38.25s |
| 4 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.119s | +0.244s | 1m38.369s |
| 5 | Pol Espargaró | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.003s | +0.247s | 1m38.372s |
| 6 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda | Honda | +0.018s | +0.265s | 1m38.39s |
| 7 | Maverick Viñales | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +0.206s | +0.471s | 1m38.596s |
| 8 | Johann Zarco | Avintia Racing | Ducati | +0.014s | +0.485s | 1m38.61s |
| 9 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati Team | Ducati | +0.004s | +0.489s | 1m38.614s |
| 10 | Francesco Bagnaia | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.011s | +0.5s | 1m38.625s |
| 11 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda | Honda | +0.062s | +0.562s | 1m38.687s |
| 12 | Iker Lecuona | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | +0.129s | +0.691s | 1m38.816s |
| 13 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati Team | Ducati | +0.02s | +0.711s | 1m38.836s |
| 14 | Alex Rins | Team Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | +0.009s | +0.72s | 1m38.845s |
| 15 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.059s | +0.779s | 1m38.904s |
| 16 | Joan Mir | Team Suzuki MotoGP | Suzuki | +0.029s | +0.808s | 1m38.933s |
| 17 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | KTM | +0.071s | +0.879s | 1m39.004s |
| 18 | Jack Miller | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.152s | +1.031s | 1m39.156s |
| 19 | Tito Rabat | Avintia Racing | Ducati | +0.025s | +1.056s | 1m39.181s |
| 20 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha Factory Racing | Yamaha | +0.141s | +1.197s | 1m39.322s |
| 21 | Alex Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.282s | +1.479s | 1m39.604s |
| 22 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.099s | +1.578s | 1m39.703s |
