The contenders start the weekend in reverse order in P8 and P9, but Ducati lock out the top three.
Friday Free Practice at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana saw almost nothing split the two MotoGP™ World Championship contenders. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) secured P8 for the day, but that was just one position and 0.005 seconds ahead of the rider he is trying to overhaul in the Championship standings: Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team). Quartararo must win to give himself a chance at the crown, and despite the position on the timesheets he sounded optimistic about the possibility given race pace.
It was a Ducati lockout at the top though as Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) set the pace in FP2 with a 1:30.217, with Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) a tenth further back and Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) only a smidge in further arrears in third.
Quartararo was fastest in FP1 but it took only minutes into FP2 before Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) bettered it with a 1:31.238 and then Quartararo himself moved the marker even further to a 1:31.149. The opening 10 minutes of FP2 also saw a spate of crashes, first Franco Moribdelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) at Turn 5 then Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) at Turn 2, before Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) went down at Turn 1 – his second tumble of the day after going down at Turn 2 in FP1. Finally, it was Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) at Turn 5. Riders all ok.
Marini was next to take over P1 when he set a 1:31.110 in the 27th minute of the session – but, on used tyres, he was only warming up. Still, he remained the fastest at the beginning of the final runs, by which time Bagnaia had crept up to seventh despite a couple of detours into run-off areas, and Quartararo had emerged unscathed from a close call going past Darryn Binder (WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP™ Team) at Turn 13 on the half-hour mark.
One the fresh rubber was in and the hammer down for time attacks, Miller clocked a 1:30.608 to go P1 inside the final five minutes before Marini fired in his 1:30.217. Bagnaia got as high as P2 when he set a 1:30.447 with less than two minutes to go but was shuffled back several positions by the time the music stopped.
Martin struck late to claim second on a 1:30.322 and Miller made it an all-Ducati top three when he improved to a 1:30.345, ahead of Marc Marquez on a 1:30.390 and Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) in fifth on a 1:30.394. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) took sixth on a 1:30.422, ahead of Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) on a final-lap of 1:30.424.
Quartararo got down to a 1:30.442 on his time attack but it’s P8, and Bagnaia finished ninth on that 1:30.447.
Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), who had been sampling a radical new chassis spec on Friday, rounded out the top 10 on a 1:30.519 – only 0.302 off the top. That means that the likes of Rins, Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Aprilia Racing duo Maverick Viñales and Aleix Espargaro will certainly need to find more time if they are going to go straight into Q2, given they currently occupy 11th through 13th respectively.
One more Free Practice session remains before the first 10 Q2 riders are locked in, and neither of the Championship contenders are safe yet. Tune in for a crucial FP3 session on Saturday from 09:55 (GMT +1), before qualifying for the Decider reveals one piece of the puzzle as the grid is set from 14:10!
FRIDAY
1 Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) – Ducati – 1’59.479
2 Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) – Ducati – +0.105
3 Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – +0.128
8 Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) – Yamaha – +0.225
9 Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) – Ducati – +0.005 (to Quartararo)
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