Jerez MotoGP FP2: Crutchlow, Pedrosa, Zarco! Fall of Marquez!

Of the 25 MotoGP riders present this morning (Mika Kallio is a wild card for KTM), in the end only 9 discovered the new surface of the Jerez-Angel Nieto circuit during FP1: the 4 Yamaha riders, Aleix Espargaro, Karel Abraham, Alvaro Bautista, Tom Lüthi and Mika Kallio.

A surface which turns out to be more adherent than previously, as highlighted by the chronoAndrea Dovizioso, faster than that of FP2 2017 (FP1 took place on a wet track).

With a Top 10 in 3 tenths at the end of FP1, it is however still impossible to draw the slightest trend, even if we cannot help but notice that the 2 men who lead the championship occupied the first 2 places this morning . But the feat of arms is to the credit of Pol Espargaro, certainly helped by the locomotive Valentino Rossi, who placed his KTM in 3rd position in the provisional ranking: a great way to celebrate his renewal with the Austrian manufacturer and to motivate a certain John Zarco for its arrival announced in 2019! Note that the latter achieved his 7th time with a medium rear tire, which bodes well for the rest of the events.

The two women Dani Pedrosa et Jorge Lorenzo were still somewhat behind, respectively 14th and 15th, while Maverick Vinales, 9th, did not seem as comfortable as he expected either.

In terms of weather, we were predicted a little rain this afternoon, but if the sun sometimes hides behind small white clouds, there is no longer any question of rain!

Temperatures are currently 22° in the air and 33° on the track, while the wind is still present on the Andalusian circuit.

Here are the references available before the 45 minutes of this FP2:

Jerez MotoGP™	2017	2018
FP1	1'51.648 Dani Pedrosa (See here)	1'39.268 Andrea Dovizioso (See here)
FP2	1'39.420 Dani Pedrosa (See here)	1'38.614 Cal Crutchlow
FP3	1'38.580 Dani Pedrosa (See here)
FP4	1'39.467 Marc Marquez (See here)
Qualification 1	1'38.919 Andrea Iannone (See here)
Qualification 2	1'38.249 Dani Pedrosa (See here)
Warm Up	1'39.433 Maverick Vinales (See here)
Course	Pedrosa, Marquez, Lorenzo (See here)
All time lap record	1'37.910 Jorge Lorenzo 2015

When the red lights go out, Cal Crutchlow, Esteve Rabat and Jorge Lorenzo (31 years old today) are the quickest to take off.

This afternoon most of the drivers abandoned the soft tires to switch to mediums. Karel Abraham, Maverick Vinales et Esteve Rabat are even in hard rear.

From his first lap launched, Marc Márquez recorded a 1'40.223 then, on the next lap, 1'39.284, almost the best time this morning. He was also beaten on the next pass with a 1'39.028 from the Honda driver who then gave way to 1'38.863: the tone was set and the official Hondas then occupied the first 3 places, Dani Pedrosa et Cal Crutchlow placing themselves 2nd and 3rd respectively after 10 minutes!

At the end of the first run, the top 10 is made up of Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa, Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Iannone, Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Dovizioso, Alex Rins, Johann Zarco, Takaaki Nakagami and Jorge Lorenzo. Valentino Rossi is then only 16th, Maverick Vinales 12e.

On resumption, Johann zarco gains a place at the expense ofAndrea Dovizioso, before abandoning it to Jorge Lorenzo. The Tech3 driver, however, continues his effort and positions himself 5th while Cal Crutchlow manages to temporarily insert himself between the two Repsol Hondas.

17 minutes from the checkered flag, we see the latter getting angry on his motorbike without really understanding the reason… we will undoubtedly find out this evening!

Maverick Vinales then enters the top 10 but is still not qualified for Q2.

1/4 hour before the end of the session, Valentino Rossi uses a hard tire at the front (medium rear), which allows him to move up to 11th position. Before final packaging, the hierarchy is in the form Marc Marquez, Dani Pedrosa, Cal Crutchlow, Andrea Iannone, Johann Zarco, Alex Rins, Danilo Petrucci, Jorge Lorenzo, Esteve Rabat, Andrea Dovizioso, Valentino Rossi and Maverick Vinales.

Final packing begins 6 minutes before the checkered flag drops, when Johann zarco (tender/tender) is positioned 2nd just 1/10 behind Marc Márquez.

Cal Crutchlow then took pole position in 1'38.749. The Tech3 driver tries to respond but is hampered by Franco Morbidelli.

2 minutes later, Valentino Rossi drops to 16th position and loses his place for direct passage to Q2.

Simultaneously, Marc Márquez fall without gravity (but with irritation) at turn number 6 while John Zarco takes pole position in 1'38.705.

However, things do not stop there since Cal Crutchlow regains its leadership in 1'38.614.

Valentino Rossi use the wheelAndrea Iannone to return to the top 10 while Dani Pedrosa compensated for his teammate's failure by taking 2nd position.

FP2 MotoGP ranking:

Photo credit: MotoGP.com