MotoGP Portugal FP2 LIVE: Honda cements its leadership, Zarco falls

The MotoGP world championship sets its wheels in Europe for the fifth of its twenty-one stages, at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, near Portimao in Portugal, for the fourth time in its history.

This is the 17th time that Portugal has celebrated a Grand Prix. The first two Portuguese Grands Prix took place in Spain, at Jarama in 1987 and Jerez in 1988. The first on Portuguese soil took place in 2000, at Estoril, where it was organized every year until 2012.

At the start of the European tour which often acts as a justice of the peace regarding the hierarchy of the current year, the main characteristic of the championship seems to be its extreme openness, since we find no less than 5 manufacturers in a first group in the first 6 places: Ducati, Suzuki, Aprilia, Yamaha and KTM. The corollary is obviously theabsence of Honda, whose first RC213V is in 11th position, even if this is all still very young and it would be premature to draw conclusions.

Ducati therefore arrives as favorite in the Iberian Peninsula, especially since the Desmosedici GP21 which today leads the championship with Enea Bastianini is precisely the one who won the Algarve Grand Prix last November at the hands of Francis Bagnaia and who finished 2nd behind fabio quartararo in April for the Portuguese Grand Prix.

But, for those who like statistics, we will point out that each of the three Grands Prix which have already taken place at Portimao have had a different winner: Miguel Oliveira at the 2020 Portuguese GP, fabio quartararo at the 2021 Portuguese GP and Francis Bagnaia at the 2021 Algarve GP, all from pole position.

And be careful, for the first time they go there, the premier category drivers found the rain in Portimao, which, combined with the very hilly route of the Portuguese circuit, can also change the situation…

Note the presence of Lorenzo Savadori inasmuch as wildcard, here like next week in Jerez.

This morning, on a very wet track even though the rain had stopped, Marc Márquez, Joan Mir, Marco Bezzecchi, Johann Zarco, Miguel Oliveira, Maverick Vinales, Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia, Jack Miller and Alex Márquez have pre-qualified for a direct passage to Q2, with a bar currently set at 1'51.648 set by the latter.

While waiting to discover more, as the 25 drivers prepare for this second 45-minute free practice session, under a sky that is still very gray and a track that is still completely wet with temperatures of 11° in the air and 14° on the ground, let's enjoy these few live moments thanks to the official website MotoGP.com :

MotoGP™ Portimao	4-2021	11-2021	2022
FP1	1'42.127 Maverick Vinales (See here)	1'40.192 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'50.666 Marc Marquez (See here)
FP2	1'39.866 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)	1'39.390 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'50.707 Pol Espargaro (See here)
FP3	1'39.044 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'39.202 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)
FP4	1'39.788 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'39.665 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)
Q1	1'39.253 Marc Marquez (See here)	1'39.130 Johann Zarco (See here)
Q2	1'38.862 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'38.725 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)
Warm Up	1'39.721 Jack Miller (See here)	1'39.711 Francesco Bagnaia (See here)
Course	Quartararo, Bagnaia, Mir (See here)	Bagnaia, Mir, Miller (See here)
All time lap record	1'38.862 Fabio Quartararo (See here)	1'38.725 Francesco Bagnaia 2021 (See here)

When the red lights go out... Franco Morbidelli takes up the good old tradition of setting off first on the track, while like this morning, Jack Miller lets everyone go before getting on his Ducati GP 22.

Although they kept the soft rain tire at the rear, most of the drivers opted for the medium at the front this afternoon.

At the end of the first round, Joan mir imposes a first reference in 1'53.933 ahead Fabio Quartararo, Takaaki Nakagami, Pol Espargaro, Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller.  This already seems fast for a first round but it is immediately improved by Francesco Bagnaia in 1'51.789 before the Ducati rider lost the front of his machine without any real gravity.

Meanwhile, Espargaro Pol improves 1'50.984, which is already a prequalifying time. On the next pass, the Catalan recorded 1'50.707, a full second ahead of his teammate.

Dorna sports cameras show Francesco Bagnaia who picked up a handful of stones from the gravel trap to complain about their size… it’s true that they are big!

After a quarter of an hour, the rain intensifies on a hierarchy modified by Espargaro Pol et Franco Morbidelli, the only two drivers having improved their morning times. As a result, the times calm down a little, as does the activity on the track.

A little before mid-session, Marco Bezzecchi, who was one of the few drivers on track and on the verge of improving his time, suffered a violent high side in turn #9. His Ducati rolled over in a series but the Italian got up without apparent injury.

Mid-session, while alone alex rins is still on track, while are provisionally prequalified Marc Marquez, Pol Espargaro, Joan Mir, Marco Bezzecchi, Johann Zarco, Miguel Oliveira, Maverick Vinales, Jorge Martin, Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller.

In the ranking of the session, we note the third position ofAndrea Dovizioso, always comfortable in these conditions.

In the minutes that followed, only five drivers took to the track and no part was improved…

Francis Bagnaia sets off again behind the handlebars of his second machine, while fabio quartararo also sets off even if entering the top 10 seems almost mission impossible given the quantity of water on the track. The French driver is currently in 20th in the combined standings.

The minutes pass and the exams remain immutably gray...

The session ends with the minor fall of Johann zarco at turn #2.

The last 5 minutes in video:

See you tomorrow at 10:55 a.m. for FP3!

FP2 results of the MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix at the Algarve International Autodrome in Portimão:

FP1/FP2 results of the MotoGP Portuguese Grand Prix at the Algarve International Autodrome in Portimão:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com