MotoGP

MotoGP Catalan GP: Espargaro ends Friday practice on top, Marquez into Q1

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May 25, 2024 / 4378 Views

Espargaro won both the sprint and the grand prix at Barcelona last year, and ended Friday for the 2024 event 0.072 seconds clear of KTM’s Brad Binder after the South African suffered a pair of falls in the second session.

For the second round in succession, six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez will have to go through the Q1 qualifying session after failing to do better than 12th in second practice.

Pedro Acosta was third on his Tech3 GasGas from reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia, while Jack Miller (KTM) and points leader Jorge Martin (Pramac) rounded out the top six.

Conditions had brightened from the morning session for the hour-long second practice, with KTM’s Jack Miller setting the initial pace at 1m40.153s.

Top spot changed hands several times over the opening 10 minutes, with Miller emerging the best of the lot with a 1m39.212s.

That would stand as the benchmark until the session clicked into its final 20 minutes, as Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales moved slightly clear with a 1m39.184s – which he subsequently improved to a 1m39.121s.

With 15 minutes to go, Espargaro fired in a 1m39.031s, though it was only a moment before top spot had changed hands again.

Pramac Ducati’s Martin dipped underneath the 1m39s bracket for the first time this weekend with a 1m38.879s, which he bettered to a 1m38.793s.

Martin’s time went unbothered as the session wound down, though with three minutes to go Espargaro produced a new lap record at 1m38.562s to move to the top of the order.

That would be enough for the Spaniard to see out Friday at his home grand prix fastest of all, while KTM’s Binder recovered to second late on after crashing both of his RC16s inside the first 20 minutes of the session.

Acosta eased through to a direct Q2 qualifying spot in third, with Bagnaia, Miller and Martin rounding out the top six.

Franco Morbidelli was seventh on the sister Pramac Ducati, with Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, Yamaha’s Alex Rins and Vinales securing the final direct Q2 spots.

A crash late on at Turn 10 for Alex Marquez left him in 11th, with Gresini team-mate and older brother Marc Marquez 12th having been right behind him at the time of his fall.

But even without the yellow flag disruption at the end of the session, Marc Marquez’s final flying lap was not going to be good enough to move him into the top 10.

Fabio Quartararo was another faller in the second practice session and was 14th in the end on his Yamaha, while top Honda honours went to Johann Zarco of LCR as all HRC bikes occupied the bottom of the timesheet.

HRC test rider and wildcard Stefan Bradl did not participate due to illness.

Catalan GP - Practice results:

1 - 2
Cla	Rider	#	Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41	Aprilia	22	1'38.562		172.654	351
2	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33	KTM	14	+0.072 1'38.634	0.072	172.528	352
3	P. Acosta Tech 3	31	KTM	24	+0.103 1'38.665	0.031	172.474	351
4	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1	Ducati	23	+0.133 1'38.695	0.030	172.422	351
5	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43	KTM	23	+0.140 1'38.702	0.007	172.409	350
6	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89	Ducati	23	+0.231 1'38.793	0.091	172.251	348
7	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21	Ducati	24	+0.269 1'38.831	0.038	172.184	350
8	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23	Ducati	25	+0.455 1'39.017	0.186	171.861	350
9	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42	Yamaha	20	+0.481 1'39.043	0.026	171.816	350
10	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12	Aprilia	25	+0.496 1'39.058	0.015	171.790	347
11	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73	Ducati	23	+0.551 1'39.113	0.055	171.694	346
12	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93	Ducati	24	+0.591 1'39.153	0.040	171.625	349
13	M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team	88	Aprilia	23	+0.788 1'39.350	0.197	171.285	355
14	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20	Yamaha	22	+0.790 1'39.352	0.002	171.281	354
15	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72	Ducati	24	+0.820 1'39.382	0.030	171.230	348
16	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25	Aprilia	22	+0.858 1'39.420	0.038	171.164	348
17	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49	Ducati	14	+0.917 1'39.479	0.059	171.063	350
18	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37	KTM	22	+0.942 1'39.504	0.025	171.020	351
19	J. Zarco Team LCR	5	Honda	24	+0.996 1'39.558	0.054	170.927	348
20	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30	Honda	24	+1.466 1'40.028	0.470	170.124	346
21	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36	Honda	22	+1.694 1'40.256	0.228	169.737	347
22	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10	Honda	22	+1.756 1'40.318	0.062	169.632	347
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