LIVE MotoGP Qatar 1 FP2: Ducati takes its revenge! The French in the Top 5!

Article updated continuously until the end of the session.

The 2021 MotoGP season saw an interesting first official test session this morning. As expected after the pre-season tests, a Yamaha/Ducati confrontation is emerging, the two brands showing themselves particularly quickly on the Losail circuit, each with their weapons.

For Yamaha, which came out on top in this FP1 but which also managed to place its four M1s in the top 10, we know that it is the winding part of the Qatari track which allows Iwata's machines to express themselves fully. Franco Morbidelli et Maverick Vinales were fastest in sectors two and three.
For Ducati, it is on the contrary in the straight lines that the GP21s make the difference, and Jack Miller was fastest in sectors one and four.

In the end, it is nevertheless Franco Morbidelli who was the only one to go below the 1'55 mark, Borgo Panigale also having to deal with the three minor falls of Jack Miller, Johann Zarco and Enea Bastianini.

In the absence of Marc Márquez, Andrea Dovizioso et Cal Crutchlow, the FP2 which will soon begin will therefore take on the appearance of revenge, in track conditions that are theoretically more favorable than during FP1.

Alex Espargaro, the man who created the surprise during the first session by placing his Aprilia in second position, will he be able to repeat this coup?

Answer in 45 minutes, at the end of a session which could well determine the 10 drivers who will go directly to Q2…

As night has fallen on Losail and the temperatures are now 25° in the air and 26° on the ground, let's go live with these few images:

Here are the references which mainly date back to 2019:

Qatar 1 MotoGP™	2019	2021
FP1	1'55.048 Valentino Rossi (See here)	1'54.921 Franco Morbidelli (See here)
FP2	1'53.380 Marc Marquez (See here)	1'53.387 Jack Miller (See here)
FP3	1'54.677 Marc Marquez (See here)
FP4	1'54.854 Danilo Petrucci (See here)
Q1	1'54.270 Cal Crutchlow (See here)
Q2	1'53.546 Maverick Vinales (See here)
Warm Up	1'54.807 Danilo Petrucci (See here)
Course	Dovizioso, Marquez, Crutchlow (See here)
All time lap record	1'53.380 Marc Marquez 2019 (1'53.183 Jack Miller in the 2021 test)

When the red lights go out... Alex Marquez is like this morning the first to enter the track.

The temperatures being lower than in FP1, we took out the soft tires…

In 1'55.204 Alex Espargaro continues the momentum of FP1 by winning at the end of the first flying lap.

The track is visibly much faster than this morning and, combined with the soft tires, the times go down very quickly: Jack Miller is already in 1'54.571 after his second flying lap, ahead Francis Bagnaia !

The red flag is then waved because of debris on the track!

The interruption was short-lived and the 22 machines quickly returned to the track.

One lap to start and the time attack resumes for the two official Ducati riders, Jack Miller imposing a 1'54.557, ahead Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco.

Alex Espargaro then pulverizes the provisional reference in 1'53.789, relegating his opponents to more than 6/10!

alex rins then take advantage of the aspiration of Johann zarco to reduce the gap to half a second.

Jack Miller regains the advantage over the Suzuki rider but remains more than 4/10 on the brilliant Alex Espargaro.

At mid-session, the hierarchy is therefore composed of Aleix Espargaro, Jack Miller, Alex Rins, Francesco Bagnaia, Pol Espargaro, Joan Mir, Johann Zarco, Fabio Quartararo, Maverick Vinales, Alex Márquez, Takaaki Nakagami, Valentino Rossi, Franco Morbidelli, Luca Marini, Iker Lecuona, Enea Bastianini, Miguel Oliveira , Stefan Bradl, Jorge Martin, Danilo Petrucci, Brad Binder and Lorenzo Savadori.

The passage to the box lasts a little longer than usual and, upon resumption, we especially note improvements in the second part of the table.

Alex Marquez however brings his Honda to provisional seventh place 15 minutes from the end of the session, just as fabio quartararo produced his effort and jumped from 9th to 2nd position despite losing time in the last corner.

Meanwhile, Johann zarco enters the top 5, just ahead of a Valentino Rossi currently faster than his teammate.

With nine minutes remaining in the session, Francesco Bagnaia takes the lead in 1'53.422.

The final rush sees Jack Miller position yourself in the lead in 1'53.387 ahead Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco : the Ducatis made the powder speak!

The four-cylinder in-linealex rins, fabio quartararo and Franco Morbidelli try to respond but can do nothing against the supremacy of the V4 of Borgo Panigale...

The session ends with a minor fall Pol Espargaro.

The 4 Yamahas are nevertheless in the Top 10 and we can't wait to see the beauty tomorrow at 13:15 p.m.!

Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix FP2 standings at Losail:

FP1/FP2 classification of the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix at Losail:

Credit rankings: MotoGP.com