Catalan GP FP2 tests: Zarco one breath away from Morbidelli’s best time !

Franco Morbidelli takes the benchmark time of the first day of the Catalan GP at the last minute on his private Yamaha, followed at just 0.109 sec by Johann Zarco who is by far the best Ducati rider in free practice 2 ! Brad Binder on KTM completes this very open classification. Report and classification.

Alex Rins is the fastest to get up to speed at the opening of the pit lane for this second free practice session of the GP of Catalonia. The Suzuki rider is however quickly overtaken by the leader of this morning, Fabio Quartararo ! 

• GP of Catalonia:
• GP of Catalonia:
• MNC file :

The reins then changed hands several times in a few laps, passing from those of Fabio to those of his teammate Franco Morbidelli and then to Valentino Rossi. Maverick Viñales is not far away, at the gates of the Top 5.

What do these four pilots have in common? All of them are riding a Yamaha, which seems to have left its worrying engine worries behind to sit like the bike in shape of the moment. Recall that Morbidelli has just signed his first success in the premier class at the San Marino GP on the M1, before Viñales doubled the stakes for Yamaha the following week on the same circuit at the Emilia-Romagna GP. 

By adding Quartararo’s two consecutive wins in Spain, Yamaha’s winning balance amounts to four wins in seven races, ie 57% success! Ducati has only one (Austria), while KTM has signed two with Binder then Oliveira. Aprilia, Honda and Suzuki are still chasing the win: sacred setback for the HRC…

Zarco and Morbidelli recover even faster !

This good Yamaha dynamic continues this Friday as Franco Morbidelli sets the best time of this first day in 1’39.789, despite losing the front 20 minutes from the checkered flag in turn 10.

"Franky" wins in his final attempt, blowing the head off the timesheet to Brad Binder: the South African rookie had climbed to the top on his KTM, but will ultimately have to settle for third place behind .. . Johann Zarco !

The Frenchman also "came out of the woods" in the very last moments on his Ducati to achieve a superb 1’39 just 0.109 sec behind Morbidelli. The performance is to be considered for two reasons: on the one hand because Joahnn is the first Ducati representative, far ahead of Miller (11th), Doviziosio (18th!), Bagnaia (20th !!) or Petrucci (last at 2.4 seconds! !!), and on the other hand because the Cannes driver lost time with a crash at the start of the session in turn 5.

Late time attacks turn the leaderboard on its head! emerges on top ahead of and !   

– MotoGP (@MotoGP)

In other words, Zarco and Morbidelli fell the better to bounce back to the top! Note also the minor falls of Iker Lecuona and Stefan Bradl, while Alex Rins joined the Suzuki stand pushed by the marshals on his motorcycle visibly plagued by a technical problem or a fuel failure.

Valentino Rossi, well on his way to shining at the forefront in his last attempt, finally ended this day in 9th place with 7 tenths behind … Bad end of the session also for Fabio Quartararo, only 14th. Finally, we salute the courage of Cal Crutchlow who signs the 12th fastest time on a Honda known to be physical, despite his broken ankle and his stewed arm !

The third MotoGP free practice session will start tomorrow Saturday at 9:55 a.m. !

MotoGP free practice 2 results of the Catalan GP 2020

1. Franco MORBIDELLI Yamaha 1’39.789 
2. Johann ZARCO Ducati 1’39.898 0.109 / 0.109
3. Brad BINDER KTM 1’40.008 0.219 / 0.110
4. Maverick VIÑALES Yamaha 1’40.208 0.419 / 0.200
5. Takaaki NAKAGAMI Honda 1’40.412 0.623 / 0.204
6. Joan MIR Suzuki 1’40.441 0.652 / 0.029
7. Pol ESPARGARO KTM 1’40.474 0.685 / 0.033
8. Alex MARQUEZ Honda 1’40.478 0.689 / 0.004
9. Valentino ROSSI Yamaha 1’40.502 0.713 / 0.024
10. Alex RINS Suzuki 1’40.538 0.749 / 0.036
11. Jack MILLER Ducati 1’40.626 0.837 / 0.088
12. Cal CRUTCHLOW Honda 1’40.754 0.965 / 0.128
13. Aleix ESPARGARO Aprilia 1’40.791 1.002 / 0.037
14. Fabio QUARTARARO Yamaha 1’40.860 1.071 / 0.069
15. Iker LECUONA KTM 1’40.871 1.082 / 0.011
16. Miguel OLIVEIRA KTM 1’41.028 1.239 / 0.157
17. Bradley SMITH Aprilia 1’41.095 1.306 / 0.067
18. Andrea DOVIZIOSO Ducati 1’41.124 1.335 / 0.029
19. Stefan BRADL Honda 1’41.260 1.471 / 0.136
20. Francesco BAGNAIA Ducati 1’41.337 1.548 / 0.077
21. Tito RABAT Ducati 1’41.673 1.884 / 0.336
22. Danilo PETRUCCI Ducati 1’42.257 2.468 / 0.584

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