MotoGP Aragón FP2 LIVE: Marquez down, Miller up!

Article updated continuously until the end of the session.

With 65 points ahead of Joan mir, 69 on Johann zarco and 70 on Francis Bagnaia, fabio quartararo presents itself as the undisputed leader of the championship in Aragon.

Motorland Aragon is a circuit on which he finished 18th and 8th in the two rounds last year. However, he only won there in 2014 during his second CEV title and has just declared that it was the worst circuit for him... It will therefore be interesting to see how the “new Quartararo” will behave this year, who seems to have erased his few weak points this winter and has been delighting specialists and fans since the start of this season.

The 5077 meter route has long been considered unsuitable for Yamahas, due to its long main straight of 968 meters and its uphill secondary straight. And indeed, the V4s of Marc Marquez's Honda and the Ducati have often monopolized the forefront... at least until 2020, when the Suzukis have truly left their mark on Motorland, Hamamatsu placing its two GSX-RRs on the podium in both races!
It nevertheless remains that the latest winner is called Franco Morbidelli, also on an in-line 4-cylinder, but this time from Iwata: what turn will the fight for engine architectures take in 2021?

A particularity of this route lost in the middle of the Alcaniz desert, the absolute record still belongs to a certain Marc Márquez since 2015. This may explain this, we turn counterclockwise, like at the Sachsenring where the Spanish champion has so far won his only victory of the 2021 season... Blamed for his aggressive behavior against George Martin during the first round at Silverstone, and no doubt not happy with his teammate's pole position Espargaro Pol in Great Britain, there is no doubt that it will be necessary to count on a Marc Márquez revenge this weekend!

We will not forget either Johann zarco, currently 3rd in the championship, who went straight to Aragon riding a 900 Ducati 1981 SS Darmah ! Enough to appreciate the charms of nature and arrive calmly to defend your position in the ranking against Francis Bagnaia or try to improve it to the detriment of Joan mir...

https://twitter.com/CanalplusMotoGP/status/1436238684265779200

Another subject of interest, the return of Maverick Vinales, for the first time with Aprilia colors. The Noale firm is in full upward spiral and, after a first podium at Silverstone, the arrival in the race of the inconsistent but fast Catalan is awaited with great impatience, accompanied in the box by Giovanni Mattarollo who until now officiated in the test team after having climbed the ranks of the competition department of the Italian factory until 'at MotoGP in 2017….

This morning in FP1, on a track that is probably still a little dirty but in ideal temperature conditions, Marc Márquez, Joan Mir, Francesco Bagnaia, Alex Márquez, Jack Miller, Aleix Espargaro, Johann Zarco, Fabio Quartararo, Takaaki Nakagami and Pol Espargaro provisionally pre-qualified for Q2, but the first two were the only ones to use a soft rear tire to set their best time, probably in anticipation of a too hot FP2...

Here are the main elements constituting the initial panorama of this Aragon Grand Prix, the competition of which will take place over 23 laps, apparently without the slightest drop of rain.

As the 22 drivers prepare for this second 45-minute free practice session, under a generally clear sky with temperatures of 27° in the air and 44° on the ground, let's take advantage of these few live moments thanks to the official site MotoGP.com :

Aragon MotoGP™	2020	2021
FP1	1'48.184 Alex Márquez (See here)	1'48.048 Marc Marquez (See here)
FP2	1'47.782 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)	1'47.613 Jack Miller (See here)
FP3	1'47.333 Franco Morbidelli (See here)
FP4	1'47.931 Maverick Vinales (See here)
Q1	1'47.071 Pol Espargaró (See here)
Q2	1'46.882 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)
Warm up	1'48.565 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)
Course	Franco Morbidelli, Alex Rins, Joan Mir (See here)
All time lap record	1'46.635 Marc Márquez (2015)

When the red lights go out... like this morning, Alex Marquez rushes first, right in front of his brother. And to continue the tradition, fabio quartararo let everyone go before leaving the pit lane.

Due to the high track temperature, the hard tires are out, both at the rear and at the front...

At the end of the first round, Miguel Oliveira takes advantage of a soft tire to insert 1'50.039.

The Portuguese driver retained the advantage on the second lap in 1'48.623, a few seconds before Marc Márquez lost control of his Honda at turn number 16 after lighting the first three sectors in red.

A minor fall, but the 17th of the season...

Meanwhile, Francis Bagnaia achieved the best provisional time of the session in 1'48.616 but had a minor fall at turn #5.

Takaaki Nakagami took the opportunity to take command of the session in 1'48.574, which places him second overall behind Marc Márquez still leading overall in 1'48.048.

When the drivers return to the box, the hierarchy of the session is therefore made up of Takaaki Nakagami, Francesco Bagnaia, Miguel Oliveira, Fabio Quartararo, Aleix Espargaro, Alex Rins, Pol Espargaro, Alex Márquez, Jorge Martin, Iker Lecuona, Enea Bastianini, Brad Binder, Johann Zarco, Joan Mir, Danilo Petrucci, Cal Crutchlow, Jack Miller , Maverick Vinales, Luca Marini, Valentino Rossi, Jake Dixon and Marc Marquez.

In combination, Marc Márquez precede Takaaki Nakagami, Miguel Oliveira, Fabio Quartararo, Aleix Espargaro, Joan Mir, Alex Rins, Pol Espargaro, Alex Márquez and Francesco Bagnaia while Johann zarco is currently 15th.

In addition Andrea Dovizioso present in the paddock as a prelude to his return to Misano, there is also a MotoGP world champion who came as a simple spectator…

On track, Johann zarco grabs a place but seems in difficulty while Marc Márquez started again on the hard rear tire and recorded the fourth fastest time of the session before stopping again.

Little heat for Maverick Vinales...

10 minutes before the checkered flag drops, Alex Marquez is the first to get back on the track for the final rush. Despite the track temperature still at 44°, the Honda driver uses a soft rear tire, just like the majority of the other drivers.

Iker Lecuona et Alex Espargaro are the first to light up the sectors in red. The Aprilia rider took command of the session before losing to the Tech3 rider who clocked 1'48.526.

Jack Miller then achieved the best time of the day in 1'47.613 ahead of Cal Crutchlow et Alex Espargaro.

fabio quartararo seems to have been bitten by an insect...

Johann zarco restores the situation and re-enters the top 10 overall, just like Danilo Petrucci.

In the last minute, fabio quartararo moves up to fourth position, Alex Espargaro Secondly.

alex rins barely saves the Suzuki's honor by setting the 12th fastest time of the session, even if neither GSX–RR is currently pre-qualified for Q2.

In extremis, Johann zarco rises to 4th position.

Great performance of Cal Crutchlow !

Always a good atmosphere between Jack Miller and Fabio Quartararo !

The last 5 minutes in video:

FP2 standings of the Aragón MotoGP Grand Prix:

FP1/FP2 classification of the Aragón MotoGP Grand Prix:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com