MotoGP Aragon FP2 LIVE: Marc Marquez doesn't even leave the crumbs...

For the first time this year, and even since le GP of Americas 2021 Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) totally dominated the two Friday sessions of a Grand Prix, in this case that of Aragon on the Motorland Aragon circuit!

Even before the first laps, the eight-time world champion was the favourite, and on an asphalt track unknown to all, he further established un new record du tour breathtaking in 1'45.801, managing to contain the two official Aprilias of Alex Espargaro et Maverick Vinales, visibly more at ease than the Ducati GP 24s of the two main contenders for the world title, Francis Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) and George Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), respectively 6th and 4th. And the gaps are far from negligible, even if they should diminish as the track is scrubbed…

Hats off to Johann zarco (Castrol Honda LCR), not only the first but also the only Honda to go straight into Q2, a first this season! Conversely, fabio quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team) is still struggling, despite an aerodynamic evolution deemed satisfactory.

While we wait to find out more, as the 22 drivers prepare for this 30-minute session without any real stakes, on a drying track and with temperatures of only 22° in the air and 26° on the ground, let's enjoy these few moments of live coverage thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

Here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

MotoGP™ Spain, Aragon	2022	2024
FP1	1'48.686 Aleix Espargaro FP1 (See here) - 1'47.402 Jorge Martin FP2 (See here)	1'48.289 Marc Marquez (See here)
Practice	1'46.992 Jack Miller FP3 (See here)	1'45.801 Marc Marquez (See here)
FP2	1'47.430 Miguel Oliveira FP4 (See here)	1'49.812 Marc Marquez (See here)
Q1	1'46.569 Aleix Espargaro (See here)	(See here)
Q2	1'46.069 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)	(See here)
Sprint	XXXXXX	(See here)
Warm Up	1'47.689 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)	(See here)
Course	Bastianini, Bagnaia, Aleix Espargaró (See here)	(See here)
All time lap record	1'46.069 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)	1'45.801 Marc Marquez (See here)

When the red lights go out... it's that time John Zarco, extremely motivated by his performance yesterday and a fan of these drying conditions, who sets off first.

Although the sun is now showing its face after a heavy thunderstorm at the end of the night, the track remains quite wet on the return straight, but the riders have chosen to start on slicks, mostly soft at the rear and soft at the front.

Only the two official Aprilias of Alex Espargaro et Maverick Vinales as well as the Honda of Takaaki Nakagami remain in their box.

After a first round thrown on eggs, George Martin registered a reference in 1'58.671 in front Miguel Oliveira et Francesco Bagnaia while Marc Márquez already returns to his box.

In the next passage, George Martin is in 1'54.798 still ahead Miguel Oliveira, until Franco Morbidelli comes between the two men.

One more round and Miguel Oliveira takes the lead in 1'53.656 ahead Franco Morbidelli, Jack Miller, Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia, Alex Marquez, Brad Binder, Raul Fernandez, Luca Marini and Enea Bastianini.

George Martin then recovers his property in 1'52.297 a little before mid-session, when Marc Marquez takes to the track again, like the two black Aprilias.

Oddly enough, at this moment, Johann zarco is last, with only two laps completed.

Up ahead, the times continue to drop, and now it's Miguel Oliveira who leads the troop in 1'51.793. Generally speaking, the Aprilias seem particularly comfortable this weekend on this track and all four are already in Q2…

Once the halfway point of the session has passed, Brad Binder displays 1'51.579 at the top of the table, while we notice that in these conditions fabio quartararo is at the bottom of the top 10. Will that be enough in a few minutes to move on to Q2?

Peter Acosta then jumped from his 12th place to the lead in 1'51.231, while Johann zarco rises to 13rd position.

The Tech3 rider continues his momentum and now displays 1'50.396, relegating the rest of the field to more than a second.

This does not last, since George Martin as well as Jack Miller are closing in on less than a tenth of the GASGAS rider with less than five minutes to go.

George Martin even took the lead in the process, in 1'50.322, but the times, which were very far from those achieved on dry ground, took away a good deal of the significance of this session where there was more to lose than to gain...

At the very end of the session, Marc Márquez still shows the tip of his nose, by first positioning himself fourth, 15/100 behind the Martinator, then by winning in 1'49.812!

Now for the qualifications!

Results of FP2 of the 2024 MotoGP Aragon Grand Prix at Motorland Aragon:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com

MotoGP Aragon Marc Marquez

MotoGP Aragon Marc Marquez