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Lewis Duncan

MotoGP San Marino GP: Bezzecchi leads Vinales, Espargaro misses Q2 with crash

A week on from heading an historic Aprilia 1-2 at the Catalan GP, Espargaro will face the opening segment of qualifying on Saturday after a late fast crash at the penultimate corner on Friday afternoon at Misano.

A last-gasp effort from Bezzecchi of 1m30.846s, marking a new lap record, put him top of the order from Aprilia’s Vinales.

KTM wildcard Dani Pedrosa completed the top three on his experimental RC16 featuring a carbon fibre chassis.

Pedrosa towed former Honda team-mate Marc Marquez into a Q2 spot in sixth, while neither Yamaha rider made it into the top 10.

Fabio Quartararo set the initial pace in second practice on a hot Friday afternoon in Italy with a 1m34.185s on his Yamaha, before Vinales took over with a 1m34.129s.

KTM’s Brad Binder lowered the pace to a 1m32.554s, before Vinales went on a string of session-topping times, culminating in a 1m31.794s.

With 10 minutes of the session gone, Bezzecchi hit the front for the first time with a 1m37.785s, which stood as the reference time for the next 13 minutes.

Pramac Ducati’s Jorge Martin was the rider to depose VR46’s Bezzecchi with a 1m31.562s, before Pedrosa moved to the top of the order with a 1m31.453s.

Martin briefly went faster with a 1m31.416s, before Bezzecchi kicked off the time attack phase of the session with a 1m31.388s.

Aleix Espargaro, Aprilia Racing Team crash (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

A first ever sub-1m31s lap from Vinales of 1m30.972s put him over four tenths clear of the field and looked like it would keep him top through to the end of the session with just under 10 minutes to go.

But Bezzecchi’s last lap secured him first by 0.126s from Vinales, as Pedrosa rounded out the top three.

Martin was fourth from VR46’s Luca Marini and Marc Marquez on the sole Honda inside the top 10, while the battered Francesco Bagnaia ended Friday seventh on his factory Ducati.

The final Q2 spots went to Gresini Ducati’s Alex Marquez, Binder and RNF Aprilia’s Raul Fernandez, despite a late tumble at Turn 14.

A miserable minute for the Espargaro family denied both Pol and Aleix a place in the top 10, as both riders slid off at Turn 15 in the closing stages of the session.

They ended the day 11th and 12th, Tech3’s Pol Espargaro leading his Aprilia-mounted brother Aleix, while Quartararo headed Yamaha team-mate Franco Morbidelli – both former winners at Misano on the M1 – in 13th.

FP1 pacesetter Michele Pirro was 16th on his Ducati behind Honda tester Stefan Bradl, while a crash for Jack Miller (KTM) late on left him down in 17th.

MotoGP San Marino GP second practice results:

 
 
         
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Speed Trap
1 Italy M. Bezzecchi Team VR46 72 Ducati 26 1'30.846   167.545  
2 Spain M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team 12 Aprilia 24 +0.126 0.126 167.313  
3 Spain D. Pedrosa Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 26 KTM 27 +0.255 0.129 167.076  
4 Spain J. Martin Pramac Racing 89 Ducati 28 +0.331 0.076 166.936  
5 Italy L. Marini Team VR46 10 Ducati 28 +0.341 0.010 166.918  
6 Spain M. Marquez Repsol Honda Team 93 Honda 27 +0.371 0.030 166.863  
7 Italy F. Bagnaia Ducati Team 1 Ducati 24 +0.374 0.003 166.858  
8 Spain A. Marquez Gresini Racing 73 Ducati 25 +0.401 0.027 166.808  
9 South Africa B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 33 KTM 26 +0.410 0.009 166.792  
10 Spain R. Fernández RNF Racing 25 Aprilia 26 +0.690 0.280 166.282  
11 Spain P. Espargaro Tech 3 44 KTM 18 +0.714 0.024 166.238  
12 Spain A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team 41 Aprilia 24 +0.773 0.059 166.131  
13 France F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing 20 Yamaha 26 +0.798 0.025 166.086  
14 Italy F. Morbidelli Yamaha Factory Racing 21 Yamaha 24 +0.864 0.066 165.966  
15 Germany S. Bradl Honda World Superbike Team 6 Honda 26 +0.869 0.005 165.957  
16 Italy M. Pirro Ducati Team 51 Ducati 24 +0.897 0.028 165.906  
17 Australia J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 43 KTM 26 +0.935 0.038 165.838  
18 France J. Zarco Pramac Racing 5 Ducati 25 +0.939 0.004 165.831  
19 Italy F. Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing 49 Ducati 25 +0.975 0.036 165.766  
20 Japan T. Nakagami Team LCR 30 Honda 27 +1.261 0.286 165.251  
21 Spain J. Mir Repsol Honda Team 36 Honda 25 +1.295 0.034 165.190  
22 Portugal M. Oliveira RNF Racing 88 Aprilia 27 +1.508 0.213 164.809  
23 Spain A. Fernandez Tech 3 37 KTM 26 +1.767 0.259 164.348  
24 Japan T. Takahashi Team LCR 7 Honda 27        
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