Misano MotoGP: Zarco leads Bagnaia, Miller in wet second practice

A sudden downpour just ahead of the second 45-minute practice for the MotoGP class on Friday left the Misano circuit saturated and would ensure Maverick Vinales would end the day fastest of all courtesy of his FP1 time.

With the weather forecast unsettled for the whole weekend, the track was quickly populated when pitlane opened at the start of FP2.

Wet weather specialist Iker Lecuona set the early pace on his Tech 3 KTM with a 1m50.567s and would continue to make appearances at the head of the field.

The Spanish rider’s session came to a crunching early halt with just over 12 minutes to go, however, when he highsided at Turn 1 and whacked down on the tarmac heavily – Lecuona limping away gingerly from the scene.

Across the session the top spot changed hands frequently as the riders grew more accustomed to the wet conditions.

With just under 20 minutes to go Ducati’s Jack Miller had worked his way to the top of the order with a 1m42.885s.

This lap stood until the closing five minutes when teammate Francesco Bagnaia moved to the top of the order with a 1m42.858s.

The Aragon winner then improved to a 1m42.657s, but it wouldn’t keep him top of the pile as Zarco found pace late on to end the session fastest of all with a 1m42.097s.

Bagnaia and Miller ensured it would be a Ducati 1-2-3 at the end of FP2, with Suzuki’s Joan Mir heading Marc Marquez on the Honda behind.

Miguel Oliveira was top KTM runner in sixth, albeit 1.1 seconds shy of Zarco’s benchmark, while Tech 3’s Danilo Petrucci shadowed Oliveira by 0.095s.

Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro was eighth with a 1m43.629s, with Lecuona holding onto ninth despite his late crash, and Alex Marquez rounding out the top 10 on his LCR Honda.

Franco Morbidelli ended the session as top Yamaha runner in 13th with a 1m43.844s as he continues his adaptation to the factory Yamaha, while teammate Quartararo’s rain struggles continued.

The French rider has admitted at various points this year that the M1 lacks in wet conditions, and those issues are persisting at Misano where Quartararo was 2.1s off the pace in 18th behind former teammate Maverick Vinales on his first wet appearance on the Aprilia.

Andrea Dovizioso was far off Quartararo in 21st as he completed his first wet session on the Petronas SRT Yamaha, while KTM’s Brad Binder and the Honda of Pol Espargaro were similarly low-key in 20th and 19th. 

Misano MotoGP - FP2 results:

Cla	Rider		Bike	Time	Gap
1	Johann Zarco		Ducati	1'42.097
2	Francesco Bagnaia		Ducati	1'42.650	0.553
3	Jack Miller		Ducati	1'42.719	0.622
4	Joan Mir		Suzuki	1'42.910	0.813
5	Marc Marquez		Honda	1'42.921	0.824
6	Miguel Oliveira		KTM	1'43.234	1.137
7	Danilo Petrucci		KTM	1'43.329	1.232
8	Aleix Espargaro		Aprilia	1'43.629	1.532
9	Iker Lecuona		KTM	1'43.722	1.625
10	Alex Marquez		Honda	1'43.739	1.642
11	Alex Rins		Suzuki	1'43.760	1.663
12	Michele Pirro		Ducati	1'43.811	1.714
13	Franco Morbidelli		Yamaha	1'43.844	1.747
14	Enea Bastianini		Ducati	1'43.901	1.804
15	Jorge Martin		Ducati	1'43.906	1.809
16	Valentino Rossi		Yamaha	1'44.130	2.033
17	Maverick Viñales		Aprilia	1'44.203	2.106
18	Fabio Quartararo		Yamaha	1'44.205	2.108
19	Pol Espargaro		Honda	1'44.266	2.169
20	Brad Binder		KTM	1'44.404	2.307
21	Andrea Dovizioso		Yamaha	1'44.530	2.433
22	Stefan Bradl		Honda	1'44.713	2.616
23	Luca Marini		Ducati	1'44.970	2.873
24	Takaaki Nakagami		Honda	1'44.992	2.895
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