Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins in action during practice.
Doha: Alex Rins beat returning Marc Marquez following a thrilling second free practice as Suzuki led Honda on the opening day of the Grand Prix of Qatar, yesterday.
Reigning champion Fabio Quartararo struggled to hit top gear in 2022 MotoGP season’s first day at the Losail International.
Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Rins clocked the fastest time of 1:53.432 beating Repsol Honda Team’s Marquez by 0.035s. Another Suzuki star Joan Mir – the 2020 world champion – was third fastest as Frenchman Quartararo could only manage eighth on his Yamaha.
The second 45-minute session took place under floodlights, which he is a representative conditions for tomorrow’s race. With the temperatures also cooler, lap time improvements on the combined order were quick to come in as the opening moment ticked away in FP2.
Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder, Team Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins and Ducati Lenovo’s Jack Miller in action during practice at the Losail International Circuit, yesterday.
Two further sessions will be held today, the first in the afternoon heat, before qualifying begins at 6pm, the same time as tomorrow’s race.
Last year’s championship runner-up Francesco Bagnaia moved up to 10th in the day’s second session after crashing during the first run, when South Africa Brad Binder of KTM was the fastest.
With the floodlights beaming, the premier class got straight to work and the lap times fell. Marquez sat top before Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) took over as the riders got some valuable laps.
With 20 minutes to go, the time attacks started. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) climbed to the summit as Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) crashed unhurt at Turn 1. Pol Espargaro went even faster on his second flying lap on the soft tyres, his gap was up to 0.4s, but a whole heap of rapid laps were about to be posted.
The first 1:53 lap was posted by Mir with 13 minutes to go. That was swiftly beaten by Marquez, the new benchmark was a 1:53.711, but that time didn’t stand as the fastest for long either – Rins went 0.174s clear. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) closed the gap with two minutes to go before Mir made it a Suzuki 1-2, but Marc Marquez returned to P1 with a minute left on the clock.
Again, though, Rins ensured Marc Marquez didn’t spend long at the top, and that’s how it ended. Rins is the rider to beat heading into Day 2 from Marquez and Mir.
“Today overall was quite good, I tried to follow someone on the straight and there was a good feeling. I was holding the slipstream, so at least we can breathe on the straight,” Rins said yesterday.
“Before on the straight we could not breathe, we were looking around. But let’s see in the race, I hope to improve on that side.”
For the most part, it had been a quiet day for the Ducatis but Martin was P4 from yesterday’s running, the 2021 Rookie of the Year ahead of fastest Yamaha Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) – a late time saw the Italian leap up the timesheets. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) was sixth ahead of qualifying day in the desert, as Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) grabbed P7 despite getting in a bit of a tangle with teammate Maverick Vinales on his final flying effort.
Quartararo was four tenths off the pace in P8, just ahead of Pol Espargaro in ninth and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) in tenth – the Italian sneaking into the top 10 after a crash at Turn 6 in FP1. 0.8s splits the top 15 down to FP1 pacesetter Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), as the riders outside the top 10 now face an uphill battle to try and earn an automatic Q2 place in the warmer, day time conditions.
The Qatar MotoGP is the first of a record 21 races this season, which ends on November 6 in Valencia.
GRAND PRIX OF QATAR: Free Practice 2 - Classification
Rank Rider Team Fastest Lap Difference
1 Alex Rins (SPA) Team Suzuki Ecstar 1'53.432
2 Marc Marquez (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'53.467 0.035
3 Joan Mir (SPA) Team Suzuki Ecstar 1'53.579 0.147
4 Jorge Martin (SPA) Pramac Racing 1'53.652 0.220
5 Franco Morbidelli (ITA) Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1'53.845 0.413
6 Jack Miller (AUS) Ducati Lenovo Team 1'53.870 0.438
7 Aleix Espargaro (SPA) Aprilia Racing 1'53.886 0.454
8 Fabio Quartararo (FRA) Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1'53.906 0.474
9 Pol Espargaro (SPA) Repsol Honda Team 1'53.963 0.531
10 Francesco Bagnaia (ITA) Ducati Lenovo Team 1'53.971 0.539
11 Enea Bastianini (ITA) Gresini Racing MotoGP 1'54.013 0.581
12 Takaaki Nakagami (JPN) LCR Honda Idemitsu 1'54.038 0.606
13 Miguel Oliveira (POR) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1'54.053 0.621
14 Andrea Dovizioso (ITA) WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Tea 1'54.153 0.721
15 Brad Binder (RSA) Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1'54.247 0.815
