It should have lasted an hour, but instead the first FP2 of the new MotoGP era seemed truly endless due to two interruptions. The first almost tragicomic, triggered by a blackout affecting part of the Portimao racetrack, but above all the Race Direction.
The teams found themselves with all the monitors turned off inside the pits with about 46 minutes left to go. Once the action resumed, it was instead Pol Espargaro who gave us moments of great apprehension: the GasGas driver was the victim of a very violent highside at turn 9 with 13’55” to go and the intervention of the medical staff was necessary to rescue him.
The replays didn’t show the whole dynamic, but the trajectories of the RC16 and Granollers’ driver could have crossed in the race towards the barriers, against which the driver should have arrived at high speed. However, the first news about “Polyccio” is quite reassuring: it was immediately said that he was conscious, then team principal Hervé Poncharal told his wife at the medical center that there would be nothing serious. However, it is clear that we have to wait for a more certain picture of his condition: the only certain thing is that he will be airlifted to Faro for checks related to trauma to his back and chest.
Once resumed, the session became a real qualifying, because we must not forget that with the new format the cumulative classification of the two sessions on Friday is already worth accessing Q2, so everyone dedicated themselves to the time attack with the soft rubber.
And once again a surprise came out, because it was Jack Miller who put everyone in line: the newcomer to the KTM company unleashed a sensational lap, setting the new Portuguese track record in 1’37″709 and preceding by just a whisker from the two who today gave the feeling of being the ones in better shape in terms of race pace, namely Maverick Vinales of Aprilia and the world champion Pecco Bagnaia, who however managed to make only one attempt, remaining stationary along the track with his Ducati immediately after signing his 1’37″856.
As we had already seen during the tests in the Algarve, the Ducatis feel particularly at ease on this track, because six riders from the Borgo Panigale manufacturer have made it through to Q2. In fact, in Bagnaia’s wake are Luca Marini and Jorge Martin, who also dropped below 1’38”.
While just above this threshold there are Johann Zarco and Marco Bezzecchi, authors of the seventh and eighth movement respectively. The two riders of the Mooney VR46, among other things, qualified despite having both been victims of falls. The top 10 is completed by the second official Desmosedici GP of Enea Bastianini, who didn’t shine on this first day. The surprise, however, is perhaps the exclusion of Alex Marquez, only 11th after being the fastest in the morning session.
The vice-world champion Fabio Quartararo also gains access to Q2, who just in extremis managed to bring his Yamaha to sixth position with a 1’38″015. The last to qualify was Aleix Espargaro, ninth with his second official Aprilia The Granollers rider was first when hostilities resumed, but he never improved: in his case, it’s legitimate that his head was elsewhere.
The big disappointments are therefore those of Honda, because Joan Mir, Alex Rins and Marc Marquez are all lined up in positions between 12th and 14th, so they will be forced to move on from Q1. The two factory riders are also among the many who slipped in this round and, even if the gap is only seven tenths, it’s a big blow to the Japanese brand’s ambitions.
Unfortunately, among those eliminated there are also Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who are at the back of the group in 20th and 21st position, with a large delay. Then there were many crashes in the session: in addition to the aforementioned, Miguel Oliveira, Raul and Augusto Fernandez also ended up on the ground, all of them also excluded from Q2 but physically fine.
