MotoGP

What went on in MotoGP’s second Friday practice at Portimao

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
2 min read

Newly-crowned MotoGP champion Fabio Quartararo completed a clean sweep of Friday practice sessions in the penultimate weekend of the 2021 campaign at Portimao.


Key moments

– Top three same as in the morning
– Espargaro heading the Hondas in Marquez’s absence
– Tough Friday for Oliveira


Again, Quartararo and main rival Francesco Bagnaia were the two riders well clear of the competition on the timing screens for much of the session, yet with four minutes to go it was last year’s champion Joan Mir who posted the first sub-1m40s effort of the weekend, using a pair of fresh softs.

However, even though Mir found another tenth with his next attempt, Quartararo soon reclaimed the top spot a few seconds before the chequered flag – and Bagnaia then restored the status quo at the chequered flag, creating a familiar 1-2 as he lapped 0.132s slower than Quartararo’s 1m39.390s.

Bagnaia’s Ducati team-mate Jack Miller made it the same top three as in the morning, ahead of Mir and the leading Honda of Pol Espargaro.

Johann Zarco (Pramac Ducati), Alex Marquez (LCR Honda), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia), Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) and Alex Rins (Suzuki) completed the top 10 – which is currently identical to the list of riders on course for automatic Q2 spots.

The top 16 was separated by just 1.077s and didn’t feature the likes of Stefan Bradl, replacing the concussed Marc Marquez at Honda this weekend, or Miguel Oliveira, the home hero having struggled on his KTM through Friday.

Practice 2 Results

Pos Name Team Bike Gap Next Gap Leader Best Time
1 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha 1m39.39s
2 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.132s +0.132s 1m39.522s
3 Jack Miller Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.089s +0.221s 1m39.611s
4 Joan Mir Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.069s +0.29s 1m39.68s
5 Pol Espargaró Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.112s +0.402s 1m39.792s
6 Johann Zarco Pramac Racing Ducati +0.097s +0.499s 1m39.889s
7 Alex Marquez LCR Honda Castrol Honda +0.153s +0.652s 1m40.042s
8 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia +0.027s +0.679s 1m40.069s
9 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda +0.053s +0.732s 1m40.122s
10 Alex Rins Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.054s +0.786s 1m40.176s
11 Jorge Martin Pramac Racing Ducati +0.003s +0.789s 1m40.179s
12 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.046s +0.835s 1m40.225s
13 Danilo Petrucci Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.006s +0.841s 1m40.231s
14 Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing Team Gresini Aprilia +0.053s +0.894s 1m40.284s
15 Luca Marini SKY VR46 Avintia Team Ducati +0.039s +0.933s 1m40.323s
16 Enea Bastianini Avintia Esponsorama Racing Ducati +0.144s +1.077s 1m40.467s
17 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.031s +1.108s 1m40.498s
18 Stefan Bradl Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.202s +1.31s 1m40.7s
19 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.235s +1.545s 1m40.935s
20 Iker Lecuona Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.162s +1.707s 1m41.097s
21 Valentino Rossi Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha +0.077s +1.784s 1m41.174s
22 Andrea Dovizioso Petronas Yamaha SRT Yamaha +0.04s +1.824s 1m41.214s
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