MotoGP Algarve: Quartararo leads over Bagnaia in FP2 session

Suzuki’s Joan Mir set the early pace in FP2 with a 1m41.495s, with LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami edging ahead of him with a 1m40.985s just over six minutes into the session.

Moments later Nakagami’s team-mate Alex Marquez moved to the top of the order with a 1m40.862s, which put him ninth on the combined times which were still headed by FP1 pacesetter Quartararo.

Just as they did in FP1, both Quartararo and Bagnaia traded session-best laps, with Bagnaia moving to the top of the order with a 1m40.413s with just under 10 minutes of the session gone.

Six minutes later Quartararo deposed his Ducati rival with a 1m40.355s, which the Yamaha rider improved to a 1m40.304s 15 minutes later.

About a minute later, Bagnaia finally toppled Quartararo’s FP1 time to take over top spot overall with a 1m40.007s.

In the closing moments a late flurry of fast laps set the timing screens ablaze, with Mir returning to the top of the pile with a 1m39.680s.

This was soon bested by Ducati’s Jack Miller, who fired in a 1m39.611s – only to be denied ending Friday fastest when Quartararo took the chequered flag with a 1m39.390s.

Quartararo’s day almost ended in disaster, though, when he had a moment at Turn 13, but managed to just about stay on top of his Yamaha.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

A final effort of 1m39.552s moved Bagnaia up to second to once again shadow Quartararo, while again Miller rounded out the top three.

Mir was fourth fastest in the end ahead of Honda’s Pol Espargaro and the Pramac Ducati of Johann Zarco.

Alex Marquez carried forward his early pace in FP2 to finish Friday strongly in seventh from Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro, Nakagami on the sister LCR-run Honda and the second of the Suzukis of Alex Rins.

Jorge Martin stood on the precipices of the top 10 in 11th, 0.003s behind Rins, with Franco Morbidelli behind in 12th on his Yamaha.

Petronas SRT duo Valentino Rossi and Andrea Dovizioso occupied the final two spots on the order, while home hero Miguel Oliveira on the KTM was a mystifying 1.5s off the pace down in 19th behind Marc Marquez’s stand-in Stefan Bradl on the Honda.

MotoGP Algarve Grand Prix free practice 2 results

Cla	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap
1	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	1'39.390
2	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	1'39.522	0.132
3	Jack Miller	Ducati	1'39.611	0.221
4	Joan Mir	Suzuki	1'39.680	0.290
5	Pol Espargaro	Honda	1'39.792	0.402
6	Johann Zarco	Ducati	1'39.889	0.499
7	Alex Marquez	Honda	1'40.042	0.652
8	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'40.069	0.679
9	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	1'40.122	0.732
10	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1'40.176	0.786
11	Jorge Martin	Ducati	1'40.179	0.789
12	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	1'40.225	0.835
13	Danilo Petrucci	KTM	1'40.231	0.841
14	Maverick Viñales	Aprilia	1'40.284	0.894
15	Luca Marini	Ducati	1'40.323	0.933
16	Enea Bastianini	Ducati	1'40.467	1.077
17	Brad Binder	KTM	1'40.498	1.108
18	Stefan Bradl	Honda	1'40.700	1.310
19	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	1'40.935	1.545
20	Iker Lecuona	KTM	1'41.097	1.707
21	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	1'41.174	1.784
22	Andrea Dovizioso	Yamaha	1'41.214	1.824
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