MotoGP Portuguese GP: Miller tops twice red-flagged FP2, Pol Espargaro airlifted to hospital

After a winter of toil for Miller and KTM, the Australian ends the first day of the 2023 season with a new lap record at the Algarve International Circuit after a late surge to the top with a 1m37.709s.

Having gotten underway at 3pm local time, the one-hour FP2 – which has been extended for 2023 as part of the format shake-up – the session didn’t finish until almost two hours later due to two lengthy stoppages.

The first came just under 15 minutes in when a technical issue with the timing system at the circuit forced the session to be halted.

A delay of around half an hour was broken at 3:43pm local time, with Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales leading the way at that point with a 1m38.866s.

The session was red-flagged again with just under 14 minutes of running left due to a violent crash for Tech3 GASGAS rider Pol Espargaro.

The Spaniard, who returns to the rebranded KTM-backed Tech3 squad after two dismal years at Honda, was launched from his RC16 at Turn 10 and violently rolled his way into the barrier.

Espargaro was treated trackside for around half an hour before being loaded into an ambulance, with the Tech3 rider now on his way to hospital in Faro by helicopter for checks on his back and neck.

Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Miquel Liso

The session got back underway at 4:40pm local time, with Pol Espargaro’s brother Aleix Espargaro fastest of all with a 1m38.253s he set on his Aprilia prior to the second red flag.

With the combined times at the end of Friday’s practices in 2023 decided the qualifying groups, the closing stages turned into a frantic time attack session.

VR46 Ducati rider Luca Marini was on course to dethrone Aleix Espargaro’s lap, but crashed while chasing team-mate Marco Bezzecchi.

With eight minutes remaining, Jorge Martin on the Pramac Ducati went top with a 1m37.991s, setting a new lap record in the process.

It wouldn’t stand for long, however, as reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia took over from Martin moments later with a 1m37.856s.

Bagnaia’s session lastest just a few more corners, though, as he came to a halt on the run into Turn 5 with an issue on his factory Ducati.

Maverick Vinales on the sister Aprilia edged ahead of Bagnaia’s time with three minutes to go, the Spaniard firing in a 1m37.746s.

Francesco Bagnaia, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

But it wasn’t good enough to stop Miller, who surprisingly lifted himself up the order with his 1m37.709s to lead the field by 0.037s at the chequered flag.

Bagnaia held onto third behind Vinales despite his late issue, while Marini’s crash wasn’t enough to deny him a place in Saturday’s pole shootout session.

Martin completed the top five from Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo, who jumped up to sixth on his final lap having languished outside of the crucial top 10 places.

For the final stages of FP2, Quartararo was being shadowed by Marc Marquez. But the Honda rider crashed chasing the Frenchman in the closing stages and will faced Q1 on Saturday.

Johann Zarco (Pramac), Bezzecchi, Aleix Espargaro and Ducati’s Enea Bastianini took the final Q2 slots.

FP1 pacesetter Alex Marquez was denied a Q2 place by just over a tenth as he ended up 11th on his Gresini Ducati, while Joan Mir led the Honda charge in 12th as no HRC rider made the Q2 cut.

Alex Rins slotted himself between Mir and Marquez in 13th and ahead of LCR team-mate Takaaki Nakagami.

Crashes for RNF duo Raul Fernandez and Miguel Oliveira left both in 17th and 19th, while no other KTM rider got close to matching Miller’s lap – with Tech3 rookie Augusto Fernandez the next-best RC16 runner, 1.1s off the pace in 16th.

MotoGP Portuguese GP: Full second practice results

Cla	Rider		Bike	Time	Gap
1	Jack Miller		KTM	1'37.709
2	Maverick Viñales		Aprilia	1'37.746	0.037
3	Francesco Bagnaia		Ducati	1'37.856	0.147
4	Luca Marini		Ducati	1'37.899	0.190
5	Jorge Martin		Ducati	1'37.991	0.282
6	Fabio Quartararo		Yamaha	1'38.015	0.306
7	Johann Zarco		Ducati	1'38.112	0.403
8	Marco Bezzecchi		Ducati	1'38.158	0.449
9	Aleix Espargaro		Aprilia	1'38.253	0.544
10	Enea Bastianini		Ducati	1'38.256	0.547
11	Alex Marquez		Ducati	1'38.385	0.676
12	Joan Mir		Honda	1'38.394	0.685
13	Alex Rins		Honda	1'38.416	0.707
14	Marc Marquez		Honda	1'38.419	0.710
15	Takaaki Nakagami		Honda	1'38.827	1.118
16	Augusto Fernandez		GASGAS	1'38.882	1.173
17	Raúl Fernández		Aprilia	1'38.904	1.195
18	Brad Binder		KTM	1'38.910	1.201
19	Miguel Oliveira		Aprilia	1'38.958	1.249
20	Franco Morbidelli		Yamaha	1'38.978	1.269
21	Fabio Di Giannantonio		Ducati	1'39.421	1.712
22	Pol Espargaro		GASGAS	1'40.130	2.421
View full results