Marc Márquez made another late-session attack to finish on top in the MotoGP Free Practice 2 session at the Red Bull Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera. Read on below for a recap of the Practice session as well as the highlights from MotoGP FP2 of the San Marino GP.
MotoGP Practice Catch-Up
Bezzecchi backed up his pace from Friday’s Free Practice 1 session with a top performance later in the all-important Practice. The #72 led the way coming up to the halfway point of the session, but it was clear that every other rider was not going to make it easy for the Aprilia Racing rider. Fabio Di Giannantonio, Luca Marini, and M.Márquez all took a turn in P1. However, it came down to the wire with Bezzecchi taking the top spot and advancing straight into Q2. The Italian rider will be joined by M.Márquez, Álex Márquez, Di Giannantonio, Franco Morbidelli, Pedro Acosta, Marini, Johann Zarco, Pol Espargaró, and Jorge Martín.
Márquez Brothers to the Top, As Marini Goes Down
With qualifying right around the corner, no time was wasted getting out onto the San Marino circuit for the 30-minute MotoGP Free Practice 2 session. Morbidelli, however, opted for a slower exit out of the pit lane. The Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team rider is already in hot water with a long penalty for Sunday’s race to serve after riding slow online in front of Enea Bastianini on Friday.
Á.Márquez was one of the first to the top of the board with a lap of 1:32.221. The #73 rider improved on that time by nearly a whole second. Marini made a costly mistake in Turn 3, dropping his Honda HRC Castrol machine. This leaves the #10 rider with only one motorbike for the Q2 session.
Meanwhile, M.Márquez moved into P3, with Martín splitting the two brothers. Before the halfway point of the session, most riders returned to their respective garages. Only Zarco, Marini, Espargaró, Miller, and Morbidelli remained out on the track.
Delayed Second Run Exit for Bezzecchi But Still Comes Out on Top
Francesco Bagnaia, still struggling with the set-up of his Ducati Lenovo Team bike, returned to the circuit to kick off his second run. Bezzecchi was about to do the same until something failed on the bike, and engineers rolled it back into the box. It was a short delay before the #72 reattempted his exit. At this point, Bagnaia finally found pace and pushed to P5 on his first lap, then improved to P3. Time attacks followed, with Martín moving into P1.
Bezzecchi was quick to come up ahead of him, while Raúl Fernández took P3. However, the #25 entered the pit and conceded the position to Morbidelli. It looked like we were going to get another Bezzecchi vs M.Márquez showdown with final flying lap times. And once again, it was the reigning MotoGP world champion who took the session with a 1:31.040.
Your Top 10 of the Session
P1: Marc Márquez 1:31.040
P2: Jorge Martín +0.007
P3: Marco Bezzecchi +0.039
P4: Franco Morbidelli +0.238
P5: Álex Márquez +0.260
P6: Raúl Fernández +0.275
P7: Fabio Di Giannantonio +0.297
P8: Francesco Bagnaia +0.319
P9: Fabio Quartararo +0.430
P10: Pedro Acosta +0.654