Italian Grand Prix, Mugello, MotoGP, FP2: Quartararo 2nd behind Bagnaia's Lamborghini!

Take a circuit combining fast sequences and an endless straight line, put a Marc Márquez in great shape although slightly cold behind the handlebars of a Honda with a more powerful engine, add 4 factory Ducatis (Dovizioso, Petrucci, Pirro and Miller) playing at home on a track where they achieved the double last year, as well as Yamaha who remain on the last pole position of the Italian Grand Prix with Valentino Rossi and the best lap in the race at Le Mans with Fabio Quartararo , don't forget the Suzuki of Alex Rins who will be keen to catch up after a rather dull French Grand Prix, mix it all up and slowly increase the pressure during the different test sessions, and you will undoubtedly obtain the recipe with a spicy taste which will be delivered to us this Sunday at 14 p.m. in front of an audience entirely committed to the cause of number 46.

In this recipe, the ingredients Marc Marquez, Ducati and Fabio Quartararo behaved as expected this morning, but the surprises came from Official Yamaha, not very quick to get into the rhythm, and, conversely, brothers I will espargaro, each making their brand shine in the Top 10.

It is now 24° in the air and already 47° on the ground, i.e. climatic conditions in the upper range of the efficiency zone.

Here are the references available before this second 45-minute MotoGP test session:

Mugello MotoGP™	2018	2019
FP1	1'47.253 Andrea Iannone (See here)	1'47.558 Marc Márquez
FP2	1'46.735 Andrea Iannone (See here)	1'46.732 Francesco Bagnaia
FP3	1'46.439 Marc Márquez (See here)
FP4	1'47.548 Andrea Iannone (See here)
Q1	1'46.771 Jack Miller (See here)
Q2	1'46.208 Valentino Rossi (See here)
warm up	1'47.080 Andrea Iannone (See here)
Course	Lorenzo, Dovizioso, Rossi (See here)
All time lap record	1'46.208 Valentino Rossi (2018)

Just before the start of FP2, the stands erupted with the sound of “Vale!” Vale! ".

Like this morning, Jorge Lorenzo sets off first to have a clear trail.

High temperatures logically make tires appear hard, except for a quartet Marc Marquez, Jorge Lorenzo, Francesco Bagnaia and Karel Abraham who curiously use a rear tender as they finished the session this morning.

The first round launched and to be credited to Marc Marquez in 1'48.409 ahead of his teammate Jorge Lorenzo.

On the next pass, the Honda rider already improves his own time from this morning to 1'47.062 and the surprise then comes from the 2 KTMs of Johann zarco et Pol Espargaro, quick to get into the rhythm and close to the 1'48 mark, in 2nd and 3rd provisional positions.

We then witness a Ducati offensive with respectively Jack Miller, Andrea Dovizioso, Michele Pirro and Danilo Petrucci coming to fill the gap between the Honda and the KTMs.

At the end of the first run, 12 drivers are within the same second: Marc Márquez, Jack Miller, Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci, Michele Pirro, Pol Espargaró, Francesco Bagnaia, Álex Rins, Takaaki Nakagami, Johann Zarco, Fabio Quartararo and Cal Crutchlow.

To find Jorge Lorenzo, last year's winner, you have to go to 13th position, and 15th and 19th to see Valentino Rossi et Maverick Vinales.

Piero Taramasso (Michelin) explains that the use of hard front tires is due to the lack of rubber on the track after the rains at the start of the week.

On resumption, Maverick Vinales enters the top 10 in 9th position, 7 tenths behind Marc Marquez.

Midway through the session, Cal Crutchlow places his Honda in 6th position and gains half a second on his morning time, when Johann zarco falls while destroying his KTM RC16 at turn 11.

The Ducatis of Danilo Petrucci, Michele Pirro, Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia all improve in the first sector, but only the latter really progresses and takes provisional 5th position.

fabio quartararo progresses slightly but it is Maverick Vinales which is experiencing real improvement, jumping from 11th to provisional 7th place.

At the end of the 2nd run, the hierarchy of the top 10 is therefore made up of Marc Marquez, Jack Miller, Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci, Francesco Bagnaia, Michele Pirro, Maverick Viñales, Cal Crutchlow, Fabio Quartararo and Pol Espargaró.

Johann zarco is 13th, Jorge Lorenzo 14th, Valentino Rossi 16e.

Maverick Vinales, who uses a staggered strategy, then climbs into 4th position before making his effort and achieving the best time in the 3rd sector but losing this advantage in the last.

The final package begins with an unproductive attack of Joan mir, ranked 12th, unlike that of Franco Morbidelli which goes from 19th to 11th position.

We then notice that Marc Márquez returns to the track with a hard front/soft rear combination, but it's Danilo Petrucci (front medium/rear soft), then 5th, who lit the first 3 sectors in red before seizing pole position in 1'47.012, 6 minutes from the checkered flag.

In the minutes that followed, Cal Crutchlow went from 8th to 4th position, before being overtaken by fabio quartararo and Maverick Vinales which are positioned 4th and 2nd respectively.

To everyone's surprise, Pol Espargaro is then the first to break the 1'47 mark, in 1'46.966!

However, he was immediately overwhelmed by Danilo Petrucci in 1'46.863.

There are 2 minutes left before the end of the session when Fabio Quartararo lights up the first 3 sectors in red and takes provisional pole position in 1'46.778!

Jack Miller makes a mistake without any seriousness in turn 12 and the session ends with the impressive performance ofThe Devil before being overwhelmed at the last minute by something unexpected Francesco Bagnaia in 1'46.732!

FP2 classification Italian Grand Prix MotoGP:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com