Catalan Grand Prix Barcelona MotoGP FP2: Lorenzo teaches the lesson, Marquez in Q.1!

Ce Catalan Grand Prix started with a Valentino Rossi at the top of the timesheet. On a track at 41° and air at 26°, the Doctor presents himself to continue on the same path and on a track where Yamaha has triumphed on twelve occasions. Certainly, but it's now been sixteen races that the Iwata firm has not completed... Vale claims ten successes on the Montmelo track, one in 125, two in 250, one in 500 and six in MotoGP.

Before discovering how this second game of the day unfolded, here is the table that refreshes our memory...

 

Barcelona MotoGP	2016	2017	2018
FP1	1'42.065 Vinales	1'45.875 Marquez	1'39.456 Rossi
FP2	1'41.712 Lorenzo	1'44.478 Marquez	1'38.930 Lorenzo
FP3	1'44.727 Vinales	1'44.178 Marquez
FP4	1'45.194 Marquez	1'45.486 Pedrosa
Qualification 1	1'44.494 Barbera	1'44.239 Folger
Qualification 2	1'43.589 Marquez	1'43.870 Pedrosa
Warm Up	1'45.318 Rossi	1'45.004 Folger
Course	Rossi, Marquez, Pedrosa	Dovizioso, Marquez, Pedrosa
All time lap record	1'40.546 A. Espargaro 2015	1'43.589 Marquez 2016	1'38.974 Vinales (Test)

 

In 1'41.133, the Yamaha official started his second session as well as he finished his first. Equipped with software, it stands out with Marquez which runs hard. But the latter did a 1'40.758 which shows that everything is possible with Michelins! The proof, in medium Soft, Lorenzo then takes the advantage in 1'40.512...

Johann zarco crash at turn 5 after the end of the first quarter of an hour. He is unhurt but cannot leave with his Yamaha. Marquez regains the advantage in 1'39.990, ahead Dovizioso et Lorenzo which evolve in a pocket handkerchief. The latter gave a push which propelled him to 1'39.817 and therefore in control of the session.

Lorenzo et Marquez are then the only ones below the 1'40 per lap mark. Mid-session, Johann zarco takes the track again and signs the seventh beat.

The last quarter of an hour of the exercise reveals a top 10 identical to the morning because no time has been improved. Pol Espargaro crash at turn 5, he was 17th. In 1'40.190, Dani Pedrosa arrives fourth and gets into the Q.2 carriage as the eighth passenger.

The last five minutes announce the last charges. Future Aprilia teammates Alex Espargaro et Andrea Iannone making polite gestures, which promises for 2019 and 2020...

By mounting a couple of soft, Vinales clocked a 1'39.652 which places him in the lead. Lorenzo replies in 1'38.930 and Crutchlow places his Honda between the Yamaha and the Ducati. zarco follows the Englishman and rejects the Spaniard in fourth place. Marc Marquez fall at turn 4.

Dovizioso takes second place but remains half a second behind his teammate. Iannone cravache sa Suzuki et s”approche de Por Fuera d’un dixième. Morbidely falls in the final minute, just like Kidneys et Redding. We will leave it there with one Syahrin in Q.2, but not Marc Marquez !

Catalan Grand Prix Barcelona MotoGP FP2: Chronos

1	99	Jorge Lorenzo	Ducati	1'38.930
2	29	Andrea Iannone	Suzuki	1'39.037	0.107	0.107
3	25	Maverick VIÑALES	Yamaha	1'39.422	0.492	0.385
4	4	Andrea Dovizioso	Ducati	1'39.443	0.513	0.021
5	35	Cal Crutchlow	Honda	1'39.458	0.528	0.015
6	9	Danilo PETRUCCI	Ducati	1'39.619	0.689	0.161
7	5	johann zarco	Yamaha	1'39.633	0.703	0.014
8	26	Dani PEDROSA	Honda	1'39.655	0.725	0.022
9	55	Hafiz Syahrin	Yamaha	1'39.782	0.852	0.127
10	53	Tito RABAT	Ducati	1'39.851	0.921	0.069
11	46	Valentino ROSSI	Yamaha	1'39.989	1.059	0.138
12	93	Marc Márquez	Honda	1'39.990	1.060	0.001
13	36	Mika Kallio	KTM	1'40.004	1.074	0.014
14	19	Alvaro BAUTISTA	Ducati	1'40.265	1.335	0.261
15	38	Bradley SMITH	KTM	1'40.309	1.379	0.044
16	42	Alex Rins	Suzuki	1'40.399	1.469	0.090
17	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	Honda	1'40.450	1.520	0.051
18	44	Pol Espargaró	KTM	1'40.508	1.578	0.058
19	41	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	1'40.541	1.611	0.033
20	43	Jack Miller	Ducati	1'40.608	1.678	0.067
21	10	Xavier SIMEON	Ducati	1'40.697	1.767	0.089
22	21	Frank MORBIDELLI	Honda	1'40.728	1.798	0.031
23	45	Scott REDDING	Aprilia	1'40.815	1.885	0.087
24	12	Thomas LUTHI	Honda	1'40.975	2.045	0.160
25	50	Sylvain GUINTOLI	Suzuki	1'41.229	2.299	0.254
26	17	Karel ABRAHAM	Ducati	1'41.361	2.431	0.132