Qatar Grand Prix MotoGP FP2: Marc Márquez sets the record straight! Quartararo in the Top 5!

La first MotoGP session of the 2019 championship introduced us a dream casting at the start of the afternoon, with Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Márquez and Andrea Dovizioso grouped in less than 2/10 of a second.

Even better, there are 17 of them who shot in the same second, which simply means that, however good it was, this first session does not bode well for a definitive hierarchy and places will be expensive to access. directly to QP2.

In this match which promises to be daggers drawn until qualifying, one of the good news is to see that Jorge Lorenzo has got used to the Honda much more quickly than to the Ducati: he will have to be reckoned with!

With the night, temperatures fell to 21° in the air and 21° on the ground with no wind, so this evening we should take out the soft rear tires designed using new technology and announced to be more constant and grippy: an improvement times is therefore probable…

Here are the references available before this second 45-minute session in Qatar:

MotoGP™ Losail Qatar	2018	2019
FP1	1'55.366 Andrea Dovizioso (see here)	1'55.048 Valentino Rossi (see here)
FP2	1'54.361 Andrea Dovizioso (see here)	1'53.380 Marc Márquez
FP3	1'54.966 Johann Zarco (see here)
FP4	1'55.248 Andrea Dovizioso (see here)
QP1	1'54.634 Jack Miller (see here)
QP2	1'53.680 Johann Zarco (see here)
Warm-up	1'55.201 Marc Márquez (see here)
Course	Dovizioso, Marquez, Rossi (see here)
Records	1'53.680 Johann Zarco	1'54.208 Maverick Viñales (Test) 1'53.380 Marc Márquez

At the scheduled time, the lights did not turn green because the runway was being cleaned, probably of a trace of oil.

It is therefore 5 minutes late that Joan mir sets off first on the 5380 meter route.

Some riders chose to start with the new soft rear tire from the start.

Alex Rins, Valentino Rossi, Francesco Bagnaia, Takaaki Nakagami et Jorge Lorenzo are the quickest to get into rhythm and complete their first flying lap in 1'56.

In his 2nd flying lap, Marc Marquez impresses by beating the clock of Valentino Rossi achieved in FP1, in 1'54.868, thus ahead of almost 4 tenths Fabio Quartararo soft rear tire.

The Honda rider continues his momentum with the 2 official Ducatis who ride together in line of sight and improves by a tenth after getting rid of Tito Rabat.

At the end of the first run, the hierarchy is composed of Marc Marquez, Danilo Petrucci, Maverick Viñales, Fabio Quartararo, Andrea Dovizioso, Franco Morbidelli, Aleix Espargaro, Jorge Lorenzo, Takaaki Nakagami et Alex Rins. All these drivers stand in 1/2 second while Valentino Rossi is 14th to 8 tenths, Johann zarco 19th at 1,4 seconds.

On resumption, Franco Morbidelli was at fault when braking for turn #1 and if the Italian rider was unhurt, this was not the case for his motorcycle which was thrown by the fire extinguishers of the track marshals.

A third of the field is now on a Soft rear tire, which is not the case for Valentino Rossi who always works with used tires.

5 minutes after mid-session, Takaaki Nakagami hoists his Honda into 4th position while Joan Mir (soft/soft) makes his effort and jumps from 13th place to provisional pole position, in 1'54.433.

We note that the Hondas took the lead over the Ducatis in top speed in the straight line of 1068 meters, with 351 km/h for Marc Márquez.

Cal Crutchlow (medium/soft) took advantage of the power of the Japanese propeller and then placed his RC213V in 2nd position, 19 thousandths behind the Suzuki before Jack Miller (soft/soft) won his Ducati on provisional pole in 1'54.394.

At the end of the 2nd run, the Australian driver therefore precedes Joan Mir, Cal Crutchlow, Alex Rins, Marc Márquez, Danilo Petrucci, Maverick Vinales, Takaaki Nakagami, Fabio Quartararo et Andrea Dovizioso. Jorge Lorenzo is then thirteenth, Valentino Rossi 15e Pol Espargaro 19th and Johann Zarco 21st.

6 minutes from the checkered flag, Franco Morbidelli, visibly well recovered from his fall, lowers the provisional reference to 1'54.270.

At the price of an exceptional 4th sector, Andrea Dovizioso grabs a few more thousandths in 1'54.256.

Everyone is now on a soft rear tire and Marc Márquez hits a big blow in 1'53.388, 4 tenths ahead Maverick Vinales, a faster time than last year's pole position, and therefore the new circuit record! Not bad for a second session and a convalescent driver…

fabio quartararo places his Yamaha in 4th position before being dislodged by Danilo Petrucci.
Valentino Rossi finished 17th; John Zarco 18th, 2 seconds away.

See you tomorrow at 13:15 a.m. for FP3!

FP2 MotoGP ranking at Losail :

Classification credit: MotoGP.com