MotoGP LIVE Catalonia Barcelona FP2: Johann Zarco takes advantage of Fabio Quartararo's reference!

Article updated until the end of the session.

What is the grain of sand that could hinder the triumphant rise of fabio quartararo during the seventh meeting of the MotoGP world championship on the Catalunya–Barcelona circuit?

On paper, in fact, the French driver has all the cards in his game, starting with his leading position in the championship consolidated by his recent victory at Mugello, but also by his title of latest winner on the Catalan track, a track which seems to suit him particularly well, given his victory in Moto2 in 2018 and his second place in MotoGP the following year as a Rookie. There is no need to say: Barcelona and Quartararo, it’s a pretty good match, regardless route of turn #10 still remodeled This year !

If we add to these personal characteristics the fact that only the Q1 escaped Yamaha during the 2020 edition, we can imagine that the rating ofThe Devil reached new heights among bookmakers…

But even if the picture seems idyllic, the competition taught us that nothing is ever written in advance, so, in a somewhat childish attempt to predict the future, we start looking for elements that could contradict a somewhat too obvious prognosis.

The first one we think of comes from weather forecasts, particularly uncertain, therefore tricky, this weekend on the Mediterranean coast.

The forecasts evolve over the days and the latest ones predict rain for Sunday morning: not very reassuring for drivers who will undoubtedly have completed all their sessions in the dry, especially if the race ends up being declared flag to flag, with all the hazards that changing motorbikes entails…

The second obstacle is coated in red and carries number five, while occupying second place in the world rankings : on the 1047 meters of the downhill straight of the Catalan circuit, his GP21 is ready to swallow everything that moves with apparent ease, even when it is hit from behind...

We could also cite Suzuki, whose two representatives appeared on the podium last year, although this will definitely not be the case this year...

The danger could also come from one's own camp, with the return of Silvano Galbusera in the official box for the stage location.

We'll see !

This morning, in a somewhat soporific FP1, Aleix Espargaro, Franco Morbidelli, Pol Espargaro, Maverick Vinales, Johann Zarco, Fabio Quartararo, Miguel Oliveira, Joan Mir, Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia have provisionally pre-qualified for Q2, but all this is all the more provisional as only the Aprilia rider fitted a new rear tire to set his best time and that, for once, no one fitted a soft rear tyre.

The second 45-minute free practice session, which will take place under an increasingly cloudy sky and temperatures of 27° in the air and 37° on the ground, will perhaps finally give us the tone of the melody which will be played out on Catalan soil, while Suzuki informs us that the operationalex rins went well (a press release will follow later).

As the 21 drivers prepare under the lenses of the Dorna cameras who will attempt to film the 24 expected spectators, let's take advantage of these few minutes of live footage thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

Past references:

Catalunya-Barcelona MotoGP™	2020	2021 (New turn #10)
FP1	1'40.431 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'40.378 Aleix Espargaro (See here)
FP2	1'39.789 Franco Morbidelli (See here)	1'39.235 Johann Zarco (See here)
FP3	1'39.418 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
FP4	1'40.315 Maverick Vinales (See here)
Q1	1'39.399 Jack Miller (See here)
Q2	1'38.798 Franco Morbidelli (See here)
Warm Up	1'40.139 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Course	Quartararo, Mir, Rins (See here)
All time lap record	1'38.680 Jorge Lorenzo 2018

When the red lights go out... Maverick Vinales rushes first in front Joan Mir and Alex Marquez. Many drivers take their time before hitting the track, the last being Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Quartararo.

The three tire options are used at the rear, while the medium is popular at the front.

At the end of the first round, Iker Lecuona registered the reference in 1'40.860. For the moment, the bar to go directly to Q2 is 1'41.085, which provisionally qualifies the Tech3 driver.

Luca marini fall without gravity while crossing the gravel of turn number 4 while Marc Márquez scored 1'40.120 at the end of his third flying lap.

The Honda driver has a soft rear tire and the times are already faster than this morning.

Two minutes later, fabio quartararo lowers the provisional reference to 1'40.006.

Franco Morbidelli, the only driver equipped with a hard rear tire, then recorded 1'39.909 before having to give up improving on the next pass.

After this first salvo, the Petronas pilot leads by 97/1000 fabio quartararothen Marc Marquez, Maverick Vinales, Pol Espargaro, Joan Mir, Johann Zarco, Miguel Oliveira, Aleix Espargaro and Iker Lecuona, all pre-qualified for Q2.

Despite the good performance of the Yamahas, with three units in the first four, Valentino Rossi only appears in 19th position, while the two official Ducatis appear in 13th and 14th places.

On resumption, Miguel Oliveira will take a turn in the gravel of the new turn #10 without falling.

Halfway through the session, Joan mir, 6th, also tries a hard rear tire.

Like this morning, several drivers beat the best time in the first sector which favors top speed, starting with Johann Zarco, Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder, but, for the moment, the improvements stop there. In this area, the official KTMs have truly made progress, undoubtedly to the credit of their new essence.

The ranking has not changed when the drivers return to their box at the start of the last quarter of an hour.

They come out rather late, Miguel Oliveira with a hard/hard combination that stands out amidst the usual soft rear tires.

Five minutes from the checkered flag, Miguel Oliveira, then 8th, moved up to 3rd position.

This is the signal: Maverick Vinales, equipped with a soft tire at the rear, lights the first two sectors in red and goes from 5th to 2nd place.

We then have three Yamahas in the first three places but many sectors light up red almost everywhere, starting at Brad Binder who took provisional pole position in 1'39.662.

It doesn't last because Johann zarco seizes leadership very briefly before handing it over a Franco Morbidelli in 1'39.256.

In the last minute, only the two French drivers are still able to improve and, in the end, it is John Zarco which imposes itself at the top of the table in 1'39.235 taking advantage of the reference of Fabio Quartararo !

Johann zarco thanked Fabio Quartararo after the finish line.

See you tomorrow at 9:55 a.m. for FP3!

FP2 standings for the MotoGP Catalan Grand Prix in Barcelona:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com