LIVE MotoGP Jerez 2 FP2: Nakagami ahead of Zarco!

After the very/too long awaited Spanish Grand Prix which rewarded us with a superb victory for Fabio Quartararo on the Jerez circuit, his immediate clone, the Andalusian Grand Prix now presents itself with a very particular tension.

The completely unexpected return of Marc Marquez after his right humerus fracture will probably be the main center of interest this weekend, with the Honda rider expected to take to the track on Saturday morning (but be careful, the man never ceases to surprise us!), but many are also the questions whose answers will be interesting to foreshadow the rest of the championship.

First of all, how will the times and the hierarchy evolve when, for the first time in the history of Grands Prix, two competitions take place on the same circuit one week apart, and what's more, under the same conditions? global?

Will Honda and Suzuki be able to turn things around after a disastrous first Sunday? What will the three wounded people from the first chapter be able to do? Marc Márquez, Alex Rins et Cal Crutchlow ? And what about the engine problems apparently encountered by Yamaha Factory during the first edition of this clash in Andalusia?

fabio quartararo will he be able to repeat, for the third time in a row, a new pole position on the Jerez de la Frontera track? Jack Miller will he, as he thinks, be able to join the podium? Conversely, Alex Rins will he withdraw, after having done only 8 laps in FP1, more than 3 seconds behind a Maverick Vinales who does not hide having studied the data ofThe Devil To progress ?

So many questions to which the first free practice session of what we call “Jerez 2” began to provide some answers, with the added bonus of a superb overall performance by the KTMs on a track at ideal temperature and a return to the forefront of Valentino Rossi, already quickly buried by some.

What will happen this afternoon when temperatures are 33° in the air and 54° on the track at the start of the 45 minutes of FP2?

fabio quartararo et Andrea Dovizioso, more looking this morning for small details to progress in the race than determined to go for the time, will they be able to improve during this second session or will they put pressure on themselves tomorrow morning in FP3, a game that is always random?

Here are the references before this second working session of the Andalusian Grand Prix:

MotoGP ™	2020 Jerez 1	2020 Jerez 2
FP1	1'37.350 Marc Márquez (see here)	1'37.063 Maverick Viñales (see here)
FP2	1'38.125 Franco Morbidelli (see here)	1'37.715 Takaaki Nakagami (see here)
FP3	1'36.806 Fabio Quartararo (see here)
FP4	1'37.837 Marc Márquez (see here)
Q1	1'37.063 Alex Rins (see here)
Q2	1'36.705 Fabio Quartararo (see here)
warm up	1'37.883 Marc Márquez (see here)
Course	Quartararo, Vinales, Dovizioso
All time lap record	1'36.705 Fabio Quartararo (2020)

Like this morning, Bradley Smith is the one who inaugurates the activities.

The vast majority of drivers chose a hard front tire and a soft rear tire.

Pol Espargaro directs the operations at the end of the first lap launched in 1'38.761. In the next passage, it's his teammate Brad Binder who leads the way in 1'38.441, ahead fabio quartararo who preferred to save a soft tire this morning.

Pecco Bagnaia seizes leadership for a very brief moment before Johann zarco takes his GP19 to the top of the rankings in 1'38.201. Unfortunately, the French driver had a minor accident a few moments later at turn six.

fabio quartararo then leads the way in 1'38.145 then 1'38.132.

At the end of the first run, the hierarchy presents four men grouped in less than 1/10th of a second, Fabio Quartararo, Pol Espargaró, Johann Zarco and Maverick Vinales, preceding Pecco Bagnaia, Brad Binder, Valentino Rossi, Takaaki Nakagami, Andrea Dovizioso and Miguel Oliveira which completes this top 10.

On resumption, Joan mir took fourth position while his teammate Alex Rins is well on the track this afternoon.

Joan mir continues the fast laps and climbs into 2nd position, 12 thousandths behind Fabio Quartararo.

Fabio Quartararo Maverick Vinales and Johann Zarco of the only three riders running with a medium rear tire at the moment. Johann zarco also takes the wheel of fabio quartararo to study his trajectories... This allows the Avintia driver to move up to 3rd position, 43 thousandths behind El Diablo!

But it's Pol Espargaro who once again demonstrates his mastery of the KTM by taking command 19 minutes from the end of the session: 1'37.889.

Unfortunately, the Catalan driver, who arrives a little quickly, almost hits Johann zarco in slow motion and ends up falling into the gravel without gravity.

Pure coincidence, same punishment for Iker Lecuona at turn #2.

At the end of the second run, Pol I will espargaro therefore precedes by more than 2/10 Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir, Johann Zarco, Maverick Viñales, Franco Morbidelli, Takaaki Nakagami, Pecco Bagnaia, Brad Binder se, Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso, Miguel Oliveira, Danilo Petrucci, Aleix Espargaró, Iker Lecuona, Alex Márquez, Cal Crutchlow, Tito Rabat, Jack Miller, Alex Rins and Bradley Smith.

On resumption, Tito Rabat profit from fabio quartararo to jump to 10th place, while the Frenchman, who had made a big attack, saw his lap canceled because his rear wheel bit the ground.

In the end, it is Franco Morbidelli who first of all benefits from these last laps, the Petronas driver positioning himself 2nd, just in front Maverick Vinales.

Johann zarco then takes the wheel of Franco Morbidelli which allows him to pull the chestnuts out of the fire by placing his Ducati in second position.

The Frenchman further improved his time and took pole position, but it ultimately came down to Takaaki Nakagami which thus saves Honda's honor.

Tito Rabat fall at the very end of the session.

https://twitter.com/MotoGP/status/1286646985878114304

FP2 classification of the MotoGP Andalusian Grand Prix:

Combined FP1/FP2 ranking of the MotoGP Andalusian Grand Prix:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com