MotoGP Misano 1 FP2 LIVE: Johann Zarco surfs on the water!

Article updated continuously until the end of the session.

By unexpectedly finishing 8th in an Aragon Grand Prix won majestically by Francis Bagnaia in front of an invigorated and insatiable Marc Márquez, fabio quartararo saw its championship lead reduced from 65 to 53 points.

Five rounds from the final finish line, especially when you are the only one to have scored points in each race, there is no danger in the matter, even if we sometimes notice that the subtle psychological mechanics of a level athlete can get stuck at the slightest opportunity! It is therefore with preserved confidence that the Frenchman heads to the Italian Riviera, on a track in Misano which had seen him finish in fourth position (on the green carpet) the second meeting of 2020, after falling during from the first.

The Devil has never won at Misano, but has often had strong results there since his time in Moto2, particularly in 2019 during an epic fight with Marc Márquez For victory.

Francis Bagnaia, he moved into the position of the chaser, benefiting from both a positive trend but also solid results on the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli: during the 2020 San Marino GP, he qualified in 6th position behind his teammate Jack Miller, after missing the previous three races due to a leg injury, before finishing the race in 2nd place for his first MotoGP podium.
At the 2020 Emilia Romagna GP, he missed out on pole position after exceeding track limits at turn 16 and qualified in 5th position. He took the lead of the race 22 laps from the finish ahead Maverick Vinales, but crashed 15 laps later at turn #6.

However, the two men did not commit many falls, with three units each, compared to the 18 of Marc Márquez !

Lurking in the shadow of the Ducati rider, it is also impossible to forget the reigning world champion, Joan mir who, in the absence of a victory this year, has shown great consistency despite the 57 points conceded to the Yamaha official.

20 points behind, things seem more difficult for a Johann zarco who seems to have stalled a little since the victory of his teammate Jorge Martin in Styria. His best MotoGP result at Misano is 10th place in 2018.

But imagining the future based on the past is not a rational attitude for a high-level pilot, and many will spare no effort to give substance to the statistics, starting with Jack Miller who will play at home for his manufacturer, and Alex Espargaro who will be keen to make an Aprilia currently in the spotlight shine.

Let us also count on Marc Márquez who showed in Aragon that he had lost none of his enthusiasm, and let us also observe the return of one of the stage's locals, Andrea Dovizioso, on a Yamaha Petronas alongside a Valentino Rossi who this weekend will experience a penultimate Grand Prix on his land…

Return also for Franco Morbidelli, but this time in the factory team, with Silvano Galbussera as chief mechanic until the end of the year.

Add to this a weather forecast that is generally dry but which, without going as far as the flood of 2007, expects some reappearances of the Saharan rain which dirty the track yesterday.

The MotoGP allocation for Misano 2021 includes a Soft, Medium and Hard front, all symmetrical, while the Soft, Medium and Hard rear are asymmetrical with a harder right side due to a greater number of corners in this direction and the greater stress that will be applied to that side of the tire during the 27 laps of the race.

After a limitation of 10 spectators last year due to Covid-000, the 19 edition allows an increased number of spectators with 2021 coming to encourage their racing heroes every day.

After four days of rest and media activities for the pilots, Maverick Vinales, Joan Mir, Francesco Bagnaia, Jack Miller, Alex Rins, Pol Espargaro, Fabio Quartararo, Stéphane, Marc Márquez and Aleix Espargaro have provisionally pre-qualified for Q2 this morning in a rain-shortened session.

By the time the 24 drivers (including the wild cards of Michele Pirro et Stefan bradl) are getting ready as the rain makes its appearance again with temperatures of 25° in the air and 31° on the asphalt, let's take advantage of these few minutes of live broadcast thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

Misano-1 MotoGP™	2020	2021
FP1	1'31.721 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'32.666 Maverick Vinales (See here)
FP2	1'31.628 Brad Binder (See here)	1'42.097 Johann Zarco (See here)
FP3	1'31.127 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)
FP4	1'32.005 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)
Q1	1'31.559 Jack Miller (See here)
Q2	1'31.077 Maverick Vinales (See here)
Warm Up	1'32.402 Alex Marquez (See here)
Course	Vinales, Mir, P.Espargaro (See here)
All time lap record	1'31.077 Maverick Vinales 2020

When the red lights go out... Iker Lecuona is the first to set off on the wet track. He is followed by Miguel Oliveira et alex rins while the sun is already making its return!

Gradually, most drivers decide to test the grip in the wet, while Andrea Dovizioso, Stefan Bradl, Maverick Vinales, Enea Bastianini, Jack Miller and Michele Pirro prefer to take their time before acting…

Iker Lecuona set the first benchmark in 1'52.912 ahead of his teammate.

Valentino Rossi gets trapped without falling at turn #8.

Jack Miller does the same at turn #1, a place that sees Enea Bastianini fall without gravity a few seconds later: first fall of the weekend in MotoGP.

Meanwhile, Iker Lecuona clings to the lead, in 1'47.092 at the end of the first quarter of an hour, alone Michele Pirro did not take the track.

Marc Márquez takes the lead in 1'46.016 but the Tech3 driver regains the advantage in 1'45.491.

We then witness the arrival of Jack Miller in 1'44.814 ahead Johann zarco, before the Australian improved to 1'44.794.

Iker Lecuona don't stop there and take control again before passing the baton to Marc Marquez who bows to Johann zarco credited with 1'43.847.

In the wake, Jack Miller regains command in 1'43.804 but the Frenchman clocks 1'43.186, quickly surpassed by the Australian's 1'43.186.

Johann zarco didn't give up and scored 1'43.082: at least we know the strong men in these conditions!

At mid-session, we found three Ducatis in the lead, led by Johann Zarco, Jack Miller and Francesco Bagnaia, before Marc Márquez, Miguel Oliveira, Aleix Espargaro, Pol Espargaro, Iker Lecuona, Alex Rins, Valentino Rossi, Alex Márquez, Jorge Martin, Joan Mir, Maverick Vinales, Franco Morbidelli, Fabio Quartararo, Danilo Petrucci, Andrea Dovizioso, Brad Binder, Michele Pirro , Takaaki Nakagami, Luca Marini, Stefan Bradl and Enea Bastianini.

The times are very disparate, spanning more than 7 seconds…

Jack Miller then takes the best in 1'42.885 but in these difficult conditions alone Johann zarco remains less than 2 tenths behind the Australian, Francis Bagnaia, third, already being more than 7 tenths.

Iker Lecuona went from eighth to fifth position before falling at turn #1. The Tech3 driver limps his right ankle.

It's no longer raining but the track remains wet. The trajectories are gradually drying out but five minutes from the checkered flag it still seems impossible to try the slicks. Jack Miller However, his box stops…

Meanwhile, Johann zarco improves a little, Francis Bagnaia a lot and Danilo Petrucci even more so by positioning itself fourth.

Pecco Bagnaia recorded the best time in 1'42.858 3 minutes from the end of the session.

The Ducati official continued his effort in 1'42.657 on the next pass but it was ultimately John Zarco who concludes this session in the lead, first in 1'42.456, then in 1'42.097!

Obviously, this session does not change the combined ranking, and Maverick Vinales, Joan Mir, Francesco Bagnaia, Jack Miller, Alex Rins, Pol Espargaro, Fabio Quartararo, Stefan Bradl, Marc Márquez and Aleix Espargaro remain provisionally pre-qualified for Q2.

MotoGP San Marino Grand Prix FP2 Results:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com