MotoGP Japan FP2 LIVE: Marco Bezzecchi displays his potential…

One of the oldest lap records in the MotoGP category no longer exists thanks to an exceptional performance from Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) at the Japanese Grand Prix on Friday, the South African shattering MotoGP legend Jorge Lorenzo's 2015 record by more than three tenths after the KTM rider saw his tests AND his best Q1 results erased in India.

During this 14th round of the championship at the Mobility Resort Motegi, Francis Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) finished the day 0.029 behind the KTM, with third place going to Alex Espargaro (Aprilia Racing), which also exceeded the best time of Jorge Lorenzo in 2015. Against all expectations, the Aprilia RS-GP had an excellent first day on the Motegi circuit, where braking is very hard. The RS-GP number 41 was indeed ranked just ahead George Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) and Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team).

As for the top three in the championship, Francis Bagnaia looked behind for most of the day before a wild lap at the end of practice, and he said he had resolved some of his recent braking issues. George Martin destroyed the opposition in FP1, but then crashed and took fourth place in the afternoon, and Marco Bezzecchi came close to finish practice in fifth position.

Fabio DiGiannantonio, the Gresini Racing MotoGP rider, delivered an impressive performance. The #49 was the first driver to break 1'43 in Japan, and with sixth place on the timesheet, the Italian secured his only second Q2 appearance of the season. Pol Espargaro (GASGAS Factory Racing Tech3) will be present in Q2 for the first time this year, after setting the ninth time of the day behind Johann zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) and the second RS-GP of Maverick Vinales (Aprilia Racing).

Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), winner in 2022 at Motegi and now wearing orange leather, completes the top 10 of the day. The Australian crashed earlier in the session, but managed to advance to Q2 with his final effort. A few late yellow flags also played their part, due to the second crash of the day of Raul fernandez (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP™ Team).

Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) lost a lap and ultimately did not make the cut, as he was one of the last to fall at Motegi, with the eight-time World Champion crashing out of turn 1 while looking with a quick turn. Instead, he will face Q1, just like the 2021 world champion fabio quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), who crashed at turn 6 earlier in the session and suffered a sprained foot. On the Honda and Yamaha grounds, it will be a hell of a fight to get through…

In summary, Brad Binder, Francesco Bagnaia, Aleix Espargaro, Jorge Martin, Marco Bezzecchi, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Johann Zarco, Maverick Vinales, Pol Espargaro and Jack Miller are therefore pre-qualified directly for Q2 while Miguel Oliveira, Joan Mir, Fabio Quartararo, Marc Marquez and the others will have to go through Q1 this morning.

But against all expectations, and contrary to weather forecasts, it is not raining this morning. It is therefore for the moment under cloudy skies but with a dry track, with temperatures of 22° in the air and 36° on the ground that the 21 drivers are preparing for this last 30-minute session without any real challenges. Let's enjoy these few live moments thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

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

Motegi MotoGP™	2019	2022
FP1	1'44.509 Jack Miller (See here)	1'45.192 Jorge Martin (See here)
Practice	1'55.232 Marc Marquez (See here)	1'43.489 Brad Binder (See here)
FP2	CANCELLATIONDUE TO RAIN (See here)	1'44.622 Marco Bezzecchi (See here)
Q1	1'55.300 Johann Zarco (See here)
Q2	1'45.763 Marc Márquez (See here)
Warm up	1'45.850 Jorge Martin (See here)
Course	Miller, Brad Binder, Martin (See here)
All time lap record	1'43.790 Jorge Lorenzo (2015)	1'43.489 Brad Binder (See here)

When the red lights go out... it's this time Alex Espargaro who rushes first in front of his brother Polas fabio quartararo resumes his old habit of leaving last.

In terms of tires, everyone absolutely agrees: hard front / soft rear!

A little unexpectedly, even a lot, we find Raul fernandez at the top of the table at the end of the first flying round, ahead of Fabio Quartararo, Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia.

fabio quartararo takes the lead in 1'45.335 on the next pass, in front Jorge Martin, Raul Fernandez and Johann Zarco.

We then witness an Italian charge with Marco Bezzecchi in 1'45.048 ahead Francesco Bagnaia, the two men preceding Marc Marquez Fabio Quartararo and Fabio Di Giannantonio.

Marco Bezzecchi, Marc Marquez, Francesco Bagnaia and Fabio Di Giannantonio are already faster than the best time achieved during FP1, and the times are starting to calm down as the halfway mark approaches...

Brad Binder, the new circuit record holder, then takes off from last position to provisionally land in 10th. Very temporarily even, since his lap is canceled, and the top KTM rider finds himself 21st again before bouncing back to second place!

As a result, we find at the bottom of the ranking the three test drivers, the only ones more than a second behind, with in order Stefan Bradl, Cal Crutchlow and Michele Pirro.

It is clear that this work session is not really intended to tease the time, and even if the ranking hardly changes, we notice thatAlex Espargaro rises to seventh position with nine minutes remaining.

The times are extremely tight but Marco Bezzecchi increased his advantage from 10/1000 to 239/1000 by achieving 1'44.819.

Francis Bagnaia reduces this to 170/1000 but the scorpion of the VR46 seems unleashed and now displays 1'44.622.

There are three minutes left when Fabio Di Giannantonio, who definitely does not seem to want to leave his Ducati to someone else, progresses to third place, before Jack Miller don't dislodge it.

The soft rear tire now seems validated for the Sprint and the checkered flag can lower to make way for qualifying...

Results of Free Practice 2 of the MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix in Motegi:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com