MotoGP San Marino GP: Bezzecchi leads Vinales, Espargaro misses Q2 with crash

Marco Bezzecchi led Maverick Vinales with a new lap record in second practice for the MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix, as Barcelona winner Aleix Espargaro crashed into Q1.

A week on from heading an historic Aprilia 1-2 at the Catalan GP, Espargaro will face the opening segment of qualifying on Saturday after a late fast crash at the penultimate corner on Friday afternoon at Misano.

A last-gasp effort from Bezzecchi of 1m30.846s, marking a new lap record, put him top of the order from Aprilia’s Vinales.

KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa completed the top three on his experimental RC16 featuring a carbon fibre chassis.

Pedrosa towed former Honda team-mate Marc Marquez into a Q2 spot in sixth, while neither Yamaha rider made it into the top 10.

Fabio Quartararo set the initial pace in second practice on a hot Friday afternoon in Italy with a 1m34.185s on his Yamaha, before Vinales took over with a 1m34.129s.

KTM’s Brad Binder lowered the pace to a 1m32.554s, before Vinales went on a string of session-topping times, culminating in a 1m31.794s.

With 10 minutes of the session gone, Bezzecchi hit the front for the first time with a 1m37.785s, which stood as the reference time for the next 13 minutes.

Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin was the rider to depose VR46’s Bezzecchi with a 1m31.562s, before Pedrosa moved to the top of the order with a 1m31.453s.

Martin briefly went faster with a 1m31.416s, before Bezzecchi kicked off the time attack phase of the session with a 1m31.388s.

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team crash

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

A first ever sub-1m31s lap from Vinales of 1m30.972s put him over four tenths clear of the field and looked like it would keep him top through to the end of the session with just under 10 minutes to go.

But Bezzecchi’s last lap secured him first by 0.126s from Vinales, as Pedrosa rounded out the top three.

Martin was fourth from VR46’s Luca Marini and Marc Marquez on the sole Honda inside the top 10, while the battered Francesco Bagnaia ended Friday seventh on his factory Ducati.

The final Q2 spots went to Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez, Binder and RNF Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez, despite a late tumble at Turn 14.

A miserable minute for the Espargaro family denied both Pol and Aleix a place in the top 10, as both riders slid off at Turn 15 in the closing stages of the session.

They ended the day 11th and 12th, Tech3’s Pol Espargaro leading his Aprilia-mounted brother Aleix, while Quartararo headed Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli – both former winners at Misano on the M1 – in 13th.

FP1 pacesetter Michele Pirro was 16th on his Ducati behind Honda tester Stefan Bradl, while a crash for Jack Miller (KTM) late on left him down in 17th.

MotoGP San Marino GP second practice results:

Driver Info

Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	26	1'30.846		167.545
2	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	24	+0.126	0.126	167.313
3	D. Pedrosa Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	26	KTM	27	+0.255	0.129	167.076
4	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	28	+0.331	0.076	166.936
5	L. Marini Team VR46	10	Ducati	28	+0.341	0.010	166.918
6	M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team	93	Honda	27	+0.371	0.030	166.863
7	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	24	+0.374	0.003	166.858
8	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	25	+0.401	0.027	166.808
9	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	26	+0.410	0.009	166.792
10	R. Fernández RNF Racing	25	Aprilia	26	+0.690	0.280	166.282
11	P. Espargaro Tech 3	44	KTM	18	+0.714	0.024	166.238
12	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	24	+0.773	0.059	166.131
13	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	26	+0.798	0.025	166.086
14	F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing	21	Yamaha	24	+0.864	0.066	165.966
15	S. Bradl Honda World Superbike Team	6	Honda	26	+0.869	0.005	165.957
16	M. Pirro Ducati Team	51	Ducati	24	+0.897	0.028	165.906
17	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	26	+0.935	0.038	165.838
18	J. Zarco Pramac Racing	5	Ducati	25	+0.939	0.004	165.831
19	F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing	49	Ducati	25	+0.975	0.036	165.766
20	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	27	+1.261	0.286	165.251
21	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	25	+1.295	0.034	165.190
22	M. Oliveira RNF Racing	88	Aprilia	27	+1.508	0.213	164.809
23	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	26	+1.767	0.259	164.348
24	T. Takahashi Team LCR	7	Honda	27
View full results