MotoGP Americas GP: Zarco leads Ducati 1-2 from Miller in FP2

The second 45-minute session of the weekend took place under perfect conditions at the Circuit of the Americas, with lap times instantly surmounting the best from FP1.

Ducati’s Jack Miller was the first to break Alex Rins’ benchmark from this morning with a 2m03.567s, having set the early pace with a 2m04.121s.

It wouldn’t be for another 15 minutes that Miller was finally knocked off the top spot, with morning pacesetter Rins returning of the top of the order.

The Suzuki rider produced a 2m03.030s to go fastest of all, with team-mate Joan Mir leaping to second in the closing stages to make it a 1-2 for the Japanese manufacturer.

A late flurry of fast laps led to the order being shuffled around repeatedly, with Miller going top with a 2m02.789s.

This was bettered by Pramac counterpart Zarco with a 2m02.542s, which would go unchallenged through to the chequered flag.

He would lead Miller by a considerable 0.247 seconds, with reigning world champion Fabio Quartararo leaping up to third late on with a 2m02.837s having been pushed back to 12th.

Jack Miller, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Gresini’s Enea Bastianini continued Ducati’s strong afternoon with a run to fourth on his 2021-spec bike, while Rins ended the session fifth.

The returning Marc Marquez was sixth on the factory Honda, 0.499s off the pace, with Maverick Vinales the only Aprilia inside the top 10 currently at COTA in seventh.

The top 10 was completed by the sister Suzuki of Joan Mir, with Francesco Bagnaia on the factory team Ducati leading Pramac’s Jorge Martin – who didn’t run a fresh soft rear tyre at the end of FP2 and instead stayed with the medium - in ninth and 10th.

Argentina race winner Aleix Espargaro is currently in a provisional Q1 spot in 11th having missed the top 10 by 0.015s on his Aprilia – though conditions should allow for combined timesheet improvements in FP3 on Saturday morning.

He was 0.068s clear of his brother Pol Espargaro on the other factory Honda, while KTM continued to have a low-key day with Brad Binder as its leading runner in 13th – almost a second off the pace.

Team-mate Miguel Oliveira was 2.8s adrift in last on the timesheets behind Tech3 rookie Raul Fernandez.

RNF Racing’s Darryn Binder was the only faller in FP2, the South African sliding off his Yamaha at Turn 11 at the end of the session.

He was 22nd in the end behind factory Yamaha counterpart Franco Morbidelli.

The 2022 MotoGP Americas GP continues on Saturday at 9:55pm local time (2:55pm BST) with FP3.

FP2 results:

Cla	Rider		Bike	Time	Gap
1	Johann Zarco		Ducati	2'02.542
2	Jack Miller		Ducati	2'02.789	0.247
3	Fabio Quartararo		Yamaha	2'02.837	0.295
4	Enea Bastianini		Ducati	2'02.884	0.342
5	Alex Rins		Suzuki	2'03.030	0.488
6	Marc Marquez		Honda	2'03.041	0.499
7	Maverick Viñales		Aprilia	2'03.085	0.543
8	Joan Mir		Suzuki	2'03.143	0.601
9	Francesco Bagnaia		Ducati	2'03.187	0.645
10	Jorge Martin		Ducati	2'03.355	0.813
11	Aleix Espargaro		Aprilia	2'03.370	0.828
12	Pol Espargaro		Honda	2'03.438	0.896
13	Brad Binder		KTM	2'03.538	0.996
14	Luca Marini		Ducati	2'03.562	1.020
15	Andrea Dovizioso		Yamaha	2'03.706	1.164
16	Alex Marquez		Honda	2'03.795	1.253
17	Takaaki Nakagami		Honda	2'04.074	1.532
18	Fabio Di Giannantonio		Ducati	2'04.367	1.825
19	Marco Bezzecchi		Ducati	2'04.463	1.921
20	Remy Gardner		KTM	2'04.535	1.993
21	Franco Morbidelli		Yamaha	2'04.664	2.122
22	Darryn Binder		Yamaha	2'04.679	2.137
23	Raúl Fernández		KTM	2'04.770	2.228
24	Miguel Oliveira		KTM	2'05.342	2.800
View full results