until Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League
Pramac Ducati’s Johann Zarco was quickest in the second MotoGP Friday practice at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas.
Key moments:
> Ducati scores 1-2-4
> Marquez sixth as comeback continues
> KTMs well outside top 10
The pace in the second session was considerably better than in the opening one right away, and an early soft-tyre run from Alex Rins shortly after the halfway point elevated him a second clear of the lap he’d managed to top FP1.
The others followed his lead in the final minutes, with Jack Miller producing the first sub-2m03s lap of the weekend that looked to stand a good chance of being the best of the session – only for Zarco to then find an extra quarter of a second.
There was just enough time left for many of Zarco’s rivals to have a go at surpassing his 2m02.542s laptime, but none came anywhere near, as he and Miller made up a Ducati 1-2.
Yamaha’s reigning champion Fabio Quartararo stopped it from being a Ducati 1-2-3 by jumping ahead of Enea Bastianini (Gresini Ducati) for third at the chequered flag, while Rins wound up shuffled down to fifth.
He was 0.011s ahead of Marc Marquez, with Honda’s six-time champion returning this weekend after recovering from double vision.
Maverick Vinales was the top Aprilia in seventh, four places up on his team-mate Aleix Espargaro, who scored a historic first MotoGP win for the brand last weekend.
Joan Mir (Suzuki) took eighth, followed by Francesco Bagnaia and Jorge Martin (Pramac), the pair making it five Ducatis in the top 10.
Brad Binder was the lead KTM all the way down in 13th, 0.996s off the pace, with team-mate Miguel Oliveira a puzzling last another two seconds down.
The only crash in the session belonged to RNF Yamaha’s rookie Darryn Binder, coming at the very end of the running.
Practice 2 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johann Zarco | Pramac Racing | Ducati | 2m02.542s | ||
| 2 | Jack Miller | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.247s | +0.247s | 2m02.789s |
| 3 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.048s | +0.295s | 2m02.837s |
| 4 | Enea Bastianini | Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | +0.047s | +0.342s | 2m02.884s |
| 5 | Alex Rins | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.146s | +0.488s | 2m03.03s |
| 6 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.011s | +0.499s | 2m03.041s |
| 7 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | +0.044s | +0.543s | 2m03.085s |
| 8 | Joan Mir | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.058s | +0.601s | 2m03.143s |
| 9 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.044s | +0.645s | 2m03.187s |
| 10 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.168s | +0.813s | 2m03.355s |
| 11 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing | Aprilia | +0.015s | +0.828s | 2m03.37s |
| 12 | Pol Espargaró | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.068s | +0.896s | 2m03.438s |
| 13 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.1s | +0.996s | 2m03.538s |
| 14 | Luca Marini | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | +0.024s | +1.02s | 2m03.562s |
| 15 | Andrea Dovizioso | WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team | Yamaha | +0.144s | +1.164s | 2m03.706s |
| 16 | Alex Marquez | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda | +0.089s | +1.253s | 2m03.795s |
| 17 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | +0.279s | +1.532s | 2m04.074s |
| 18 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Gresini Racing MotoGP | Ducati | +0.293s | +1.825s | 2m04.367s |
| 19 | Marco Bezzecchi | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | Ducati | +0.096s | +1.921s | 2m04.463s |
| 20 | Remy Gardner | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.072s | +1.993s | 2m04.535s |
| 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.129s | +2.122s | 2m04.664s |
| 22 | Darryn Binder | WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team | Yamaha | +0.015s | +2.137s | 2m04.679s |
| 23 | Raul Fernandez | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.091s | +2.228s | 2m04.77s |
| 24 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.228s | +2.456s | 2m04.998s |
