Qatar MotoGP: Marc Marquez dominates second practice for Honda
Honda rider Marc Marquez dominated the second practice session for the 2019 MotoGP season opening Qatar Grand Prix
Reigning champion Marquez grabbed a tow from Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales late in the session to go faster than Johann Zarco's existing lap record from last year.
The session, held in the evening under the lights and therefore more representative for the race than the daytime first and third practice, was delayed by five minutes for track clean-up following ex-MotoGP rider Tom Luthi's big crash exiting the Turn 7 right-hander in Moto2 practice.
When it kicked off, Valentino Rossi's first-practice benchmark was surpassed in almost no time, as Marquez fired in the first sub-1m55s lap of the weekend on just his second flying lap.
He was briefly overtaken by Ducati's Danilo Petrucci a few minutes later, but immediately responded with a 1m54.767s to end his opening run out front.
Marquez remained top for much of the session, until Suzuki rookie Joan Mir took a pair of fresh soft tyres and shot up to first place from 13th with a 1m54.433s as late-session qualifying simulations kicked off.
Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller, also on new softs, soon surpassed Mir, before Franco Morbidelli took his turn out front - having recovered from an earlier high-speed Turn 1 crash that had left his Yamaha on fire.
Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso then went quickest with five minutes left on the clock, but was subsequently outpaced by Vinales.
But Marquez crossed the start-finish line moments after the Yamaha man to go almost half a second quicker with a 1m53.380s, the new lap record.
Vinales's effort proved good enough for second, ahead of Miller and the Aussie's former team-mate Petrucci.
Rookie Fabio Quartararo scored an impressive fifth, two places up on Petronas SRT Yamaha team-mate Morbidelli, with Dovizioso slotting in between the pair.
Suzuki's Alex Rins fired in a personal-best lap at the chequered flag to move up to eighth place, ahead of Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro and Mir.
Rins's last-gasp effort demoted Marquez's new team-mate Jorge Lorenzo outside of the top 10, as he ended the session 1.048s off the pace.
Rossi was only 17th, the only rider in the field not to improve on his practice one lap. He and Lorenzo, as well as 13th-placed LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, potentially face having to go through Q1, as posting a better lap time is likely to be difficult in the daytime third practice.
Pol Espargaro led the way among the KTM contingent, posting the 16th-best time, 1.673s slower than Marquez.
Practice two times
Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marc Marquez | Honda | Honda | 1m53.380s | - | 18 |
2 | Maverick Vinales | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m53.854s | 0.474s | 16 |
3 | Jack Miller | Pramac Ducati | Ducati | 1m53.908s | 0.528s | 19 |
4 | Danilo Petrucci | Ducati | Ducati | 1m54.053s | 0.673s | 16 |
5 | Fabio Quartararo | Petronas Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m54.154s | 0.774s | 17 |
6 | Andrea Dovizioso | Ducati | Ducati | 1m54.256s | 0.876s | 17 |
7 | Franco Morbidelli | Petronas Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m54.275s | 0.895s | 16 |
8 | Alex Rins | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m54.320s | 0.940s | 19 |
9 | Aleix Espargaro | Aprilia | Aprilia | 1m54.367s | 0.987s | 15 |
10 | Joan Mir | Suzuki | Suzuki | 1m54.402s | 1.022s | 17 |
11 | Jorge Lorenzo | Honda | Honda | 1m54.428s | 1.048s | 17 |
12 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda | Honda | 1m54.444s | 1.064s | 17 |
13 | Cal Crutchlow | LCR Honda | Honda | 1m54.452s | 1.072s | 17 |
14 | Francesco Bagnaia | Pramac Ducati | Ducati | 1m54.801s | 1.421s | 16 |
15 | Tito Rabat | Avintia Ducati | Ducati | 1m55.032s | 1.652s | 18 |
16 | Pol Espargaro | KTM | KTM | 1m55.053s | 1.673s | 17 |
17 | Valentino Rossi | Yamaha | Yamaha | 1m55.137s | 1.757s | 16 |
18 | Johann Zarco | KTM | KTM | 1m55.412s | 2.032s | 17 |
19 | Andrea Iannone | Aprilia | Aprilia | 1m55.432s | 2.052s | 16 |
20 | Miguel Oliveira | Tech3 KTM | KTM | 1m55.635s | 2.255s | 18 |
21 | Karel Abraham | Avintia Ducati | Ducati | 1m55.654s | 2.274s | 16 |
22 | Hafizh Syahrin | Tech3 KTM | KTM | 1m56.437s | 3.057s | 17 |
23 | Bradley Smith | Aprilia | Aprilia | 1m56.834s | 3.454s | 16 |
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