Submitted by Zara Daniela on
In a more familiar sight, the night had truly set in by the time the premier class hit the playground one last time on Friday. Marc Marquez did his best to follow his brother’s example and take over the timesheets as soon as the green flag waved, bettering the afternoon’s fastest time by three tenths of a second. Times settled for the middle part of the session as teams were keen to work on pace in ambient conditions similar to race time. Andrea Dovizioso was the only rider making inroads into his main rival’s time and doing so on used tyres, until the final ten minutes saw some fresh rubber hit the track.
Alex Rins attacked Marquez’s position with the first 1:54 of the day while most contenders were still changing shoes and preparing for the battle for a top ten benchmark. The fight heated up in the final five minutes, Danilo Petrucci the first man to make his mark and put nearly half a second into the competition, only to be robbed by Dovizioso one lap later. Ducati’s lead Italian kept his name at the top of the timesheets as the checkered flag waved, with Petrucci a mere six thousandths of a second behind and Rins breaking the Ducati hegemony another tenth down.
Jorge Lorenzo started his evening by making very photogenic but ultimately worrying sparks on his Ducati before the Spaniard recovered to a top four position, four tenths behind his teammate. The tussle for the remaining top ten positions was an incredibly tight affair, Andrea Iannone adding another Suzuki to the top five, with the Hondas of Marquez, Dani Pedrosa and Cal Crutchlow each separated by one tiny thousandth of a second. The same gap kept the top Yamaha of Valentino Rossi behind them in ninth position, less than half a second down from the leader.
Johann Zarco seemed to struggle to put together a fast lap until the very end of the session, when he put on his favoured soft tyres and salvaged a top ten position with a direct Q2 ticket in mind. No such luck for Maverick Viñales, whose factory Yamaha wasn’t even close to challenging, three tenths down on Zarco and over eight tenths slower than Dovizioso.
Results:
Pos. | Num. | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap 1st | Prev. |
1 | 4 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati | 1'54.361 | ||
2 | 9 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati | 1'54.367 | 0.006 | 0.006 |
3 | 42 | Alex RINS | Suzuki | 1'54.458 | 0.097 | 0.091 |
4 | 99 | Jorge LORENZO | Ducati | 1'54.831 | 0.470 | 0.373 |
5 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | Suzuki | 1'54.841 | 0.480 | 0.010 |
6 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | Honda | 1'54.850 | 0.489 | 0.009 |
7 | 26 | Dani PEDROSA | Honda | 1'54.851 | 0.490 | 0.001 |
8 | 35 | Cal CRUTCHLOW | Honda | 1'54.852 | 0.491 | 0.001 |
9 | 46 | Valentino ROSSI | Yamaha | 1'54.853 | 0.492 | 0.001 |
10 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | Yamaha | 1'54.912 | 0.551 | 0.059 |
11 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | Yamaha | 1'55.195 | 0.834 | 0.283 |
12 | 41 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia | 1'55.236 | 0.875 | 0.041 |
13 | 53 | Tito RABAT | Ducati | 1'55.308 | 0.947 | 0.072 |
14 | 43 | Jack MILLER | Ducati | 1'55.360 | 0.999 | 0.052 |
15 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Honda | 1'55.694 | 1.333 | 0.334 |
16 | 45 | Scott REDDING | Aprilia | 1'55.718 | 1.357 | 0.024 |
17 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | KTM | 1'55.919 | 1.558 | 0.201 |
18 | 21 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Honda | 1'55.965 | 1.604 | 0.046 |
19 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Honda | 1'56.242 | 1.881 | 0.277 |
20 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | KTM | 1'56.260 | 1.899 | 0.018 |
21 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | Ducati | 1'56.394 | 2.033 | 0.134 |
22 | 55 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | Yamaha | 1'56.454 | 2.093 | 0.060 |
23 | 19 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | Ducati | 1'56.990 | 2.629 | 0.536 |
24 | 10 | Xavier SIMEON | Ducati | 1'57.765 | 3.404 | 0.775 |
Comments
It is only practice, I know
Free practice two was awesome. Rins & Crazy Jo both quicker than Marquez, I didn't see that coming.
Marquez, Pedrosa, Cructhlow, almost the same time. Must be close to the perfect lap on the factory Honda.
Maverick outside the top ten? dear oh dear.
Jack Miller improves by one point three seconds from FP1, seems to like the Ducati.
As predicted, we can toss FP1
As predicted, we can toss FP1/FP3 out the window. Great to see the factory Suzukis competing and it looks like Suzuki has solved their 2017 engine woes. Great job and great to see another factory elbow their way into the past Honda/Yamaha dominance along with Ducati. Speaking of Ducati, as predicted also, very fast. 3 of the top 5 positions, but keep in mind the circumstances. The end of the session was everyone throwing on soft rears for the quick lap. Race pace looks like a Marquez/Dovi battle. Great to have day 1 of the 2018 season in the books. Forecast looks like dry. Let the sparks fly Sunday!
Will the real Maverick
please report for duty?
WooHoo!
3 Ducati's, and 2 Suzuki's in the top 5!
I'm not a Duc or Suz fanboy, but to keep it comtemporary, I am a fan of a Cinderall story.
I would love to see Honda, and Yamaha eat humble pie for a few races at least.
Impact of FP2 on QP1 vs QP2?
Just so I'm clear... the top 10 riders by time through FP3 will automatically make it to QP2 but since FP1 and FP3 will be run in the hot afternoon sun, those times are not expected to really matter right? This FP2 was the one that really mattered. That means Vinalez will have to use up tires and energy in QP2 if he wants a shot at QP redemtion. Ouch.
Is my maths correct? I see
Is my maths correct? I see 4th to 9th as covered by 22/1000th of a second. What is the world coming to?
I was drooling over the same
I was drooling over the same figure, thinking they were all in the same 1/10th, until I looked at who was at the top and bottom of the tenth... so, its only a quarter of a tenth??? A Duc, Suz, Hons and Yam, all huddled around, looking up the clock. Amazing to think about all 5 of those bikes trying to fit on the track, within that time space, flying elbows anyone?