Pramac rider Johann Zarco led a Ducati 1-2-3 in the wet second MotoGP practice session of the San Marino Grand Prix weekend at Misano.
After the track was hit by severe rain at the end of FP1, there was lower-class dry running between MotoGP sessions, but the rain returned to properly soak the track right in time for the start of the premier class’s second practice.
It didn’t dry much at all through the duration of the 45-minute session, with Zarco’s eventual 1m42.097s, set at the chequered flag, still more than nine seconds off the dry-weather pace.
That meant that new Aprilia recruit Maverick Vinales ended the day top of the combined classification courtesy of his FP1 effort.
The factory Ducatis of Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller completed the top three lockout, both around six tenths off Zarco, with Bagnaia getting irritated with Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro after being held up late on.
Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Marc Marquez (Honda) completed the top five as the only other riders within a second of Zarco.
Championship leader Fabio Quartararo was only 18th in the wet, a place behind former Yamaha team-mate Vinales.
Tech3 KTM rider Iker Lecuona was – unsurprisingly given his wet-weather prowess – among the frontrunners early in the session, but ended FP2 with a brutal fall at the first corner.
Horrible highside for @LecuonaIker! 😱
Thankfully the Spaniard is back on his feet 👍#SanMarinoGP 🇸🇲 pic.twitter.com/xFFx3x0c1z
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 17, 2021
Lecuona was chucked over the handlebars of his RC16 and landed hard in the Turn 1 run-off, needing a fair amount of time to get up and limp away from the site of the crash.
The only other fall in the session had come earlier at the same corner, with Enea Bastianini (Avintia Ducati) able to rejoin FP2 after his crash.
Zarco is still on course to have to fight his way through Q1, where, should it the track also be wet in FP3, he will be joined by the likes of Pramac team-mate Jorge Martin and new Yamaha works rider Franco Morbidelli among others.
Practice 2 Results
Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Johann Zarco | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 1m42.097s | ||
2 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.553s | +0.553s | 1m42.65s |
3 | Jack Miller | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.069s | +0.622s | 1m42.719s |
4 | Joan Mir | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.191s | +0.813s | 1m42.91s |
5 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.011s | +0.824s | 1m42.921s |
6 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.313s | +1.137s | 1m43.234s |
7 | Danilo Petrucci | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.095s | +1.232s | 1m43.329s |
8 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.3s | +1.532s | 1m43.629s |
9 | Iker Lecuona | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.093s | +1.625s | 1m43.722s |
10 | Alex Marquez | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda | +0.017s | +1.642s | 1m43.739s |
11 | Alex Rins | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.021s | +1.663s | 1m43.76s |
12 | Michele Pirro | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.051s | +1.714s | 1m43.811s |
13 | Franco Morbidelli | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.033s | +1.747s | 1m43.844s |
14 | Enea Bastianini | Avintia Esponsorama Racing | Ducati | +0.057s | +1.804s | 1m43.901s |
15 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.005s | +1.809s | 1m43.906s |
16 | Valentino Rossi | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.224s | +2.033s | 1m44.13s |
17 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.073s | +2.106s | 1m44.203s |
18 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.002s | +2.108s | 1m44.205s |
19 | Pol Espargaró | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.061s | +2.169s | 1m44.266s |
20 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.138s | +2.307s | 1m44.404s |
21 | Andrea Dovizioso | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.126s | +2.433s | 1m44.53s |
22 | Stefan Bradl | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.183s | +2.616s | 1m44.713s |
23 | Luca Marini | SKY VR46 Avintia Team | Ducati | +0.257s | +2.873s | 1m44.97s |
24 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | +0.022s | +2.895s | 1m44.992s |