After his morning disaster in free practice 1 of the Comunitat Valenciana GP, the leader of the World Championship takes hold in the second round
The Ducati, at the forefront in FP2, with Marini, Martín and Miller ahead of Marc Márquez; Fabio (8th) is still ahead of Pecco (9th)
The pulse between Pecco Bagnaia and Fabio Quartararo for the world title in the last round of the season, the Comunitat Valenciana Grand Prix has started with strong emotions in Cheste. The Frenchman, 23 points behind in the standings compared to the Italian, has started pressing from the first minute, aware that his chances of retaining the crown are slim and that he can only win and hopes that his rival fails. And in Free Practice 1 this ‘carom’ has been fulfilled, with the ‘Diablo’ leading the time table and Bagnaia in 17th place. A result that if repeated on Sunday would make Fabio champion. In the afternoon, the Ducati leader reacted and although the Yamaha rider continued to push hard, Pecco was able to place himself in the ‘top 10’, in the wake of his rival.
Ducati, in any case, confirmed its dominance to close Friday with three of its representatives, Luca Marini, Jorge Martín and Jack Miller, leading the timesheets in this second session, while Marc Márquez, which suffered its first crash in the first free sessions but finished second, was placed in the afternoon just after the Borgo Panigale trio, in provisional fourth place and as the only Honda among the top ten. Fabio Quartararo, who for many minutes lapped second behind Marini, dropped to eighth position, with Pecco ninth.
The ‘top 10’ of FP2 in Valencia:
1. Luca MARINI (Ducati) 1:30.217
2. Jorge MARTIN (Ducati) at 0.105
3. Jack MILLER (Ducati) at 0.128
4. Marc MARQUEZ (Honda) at 0.173
5. Enea BASTIANINI (Ducati) at 0.177
6. Miguel OLIVEIRA (KTM) at 0.205
7. Johann ZARCO (Ducati) at 0.207
8. Fabio QUARTARARO (Yamaha) at 0.225
9. Francesco BAGNAIA (Ducati) at 0.230
10. Brad BINDER (KTM) at 0.302