Argentina MotoGP: Espargaro leads Aprilia 1-2 in FP2

The rescheduled second practice session on Saturday was extended from 45 minutes to an hour to make up for Friday’s running being cancelled due to freight delays.

With no FP3 taking place this weekend due to the revised schedule, the qualifying groups were decided on the combined order at the end of FP2.

Most of the field focused on race running in the opening half of FP2, with conditions identical to what will likely be experienced on Sunday in the 25-lap grand prix.

Though long running was the priority, that didn’t stop Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro – starting his 200th MotoGP race this weekend – from moving up to second on the combined times straight away with a 1m39.116s.

With 15 minutes of the session gone, Espargaro bettered Takaaki Nakagami’s FP1 best with a 1m38.956s on a used soft rear tyre.

It wouldn’t be long before Espargaro’s team-mate Maverick Vinales found time on his run to move into second to annex the top of the leaderboard for Aprilia.

Tech3 KTM rider Remy Gardner suffered a crash early on in FP2, while a frustrated Pol Espargaro fell off his Honda at Turn 1 just over 20 minutes into the session.

Maverick Vinales, Aprilia Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

And disaster struck KTM’s Brad Binder, who suffered an apparent engine blow-up into Turn 13 midway through FP2.

Aleix Espargaro’s lap continued to act as the benchmark until the final 20 minutes, when team-mate Vinales lit up the timing screens to fire in a 1m38.454s on a fresh soft rear tyre.

But Espargaro was also now out on track on a fresh soft tyre and reclaimed top spot with a 1m38.244s a few moments later.

This would keep Espargaro top of the pile, with Vinales’ time also coming under no threat through to the chequered flag.

Ducati’s Jack Miller mate a late jump up to third on his GP22 as team-mate Francesco Bagnaia cut a frustrated figure in the closing stages of FP2 and wound-up 12th.

The four-time race winner got caught up in traffic at the end of his build-up lap and bizarrely braked hard off line on the main straight just as he started a new laps.

This left him with just two flying laps to try to secure a place in Q2, but failed to improve on his first effort and was unable to complete a second when VR46 rider Marco Bezzecchi crashed at Turn 1 having just overtaken him and brought out the yellow flags.

Jack Miller, Ducati Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

For the second race in succession, Bagnaia must face Q1 in qualifying and will be joined by Indonesian GP winner Miguel Oliveira – who could only managed 11th at the end of FP2 on the KTM.

There were no such issues for team-mate Binder despite his earlier technical problems, the South African safely into Q2 in fifth behind world champion Fabio Quartararo on the sole Yamaha inside the top 10.

Both Suzukis have made it into Q2, with Alex Rins heading Joan Mir, while Pramac duo Jorge Martin and Joahnn Zarco, and the sister VR46 Ducati of Luca Marini sealing the final direct Q2 places.

FP1 pacesetter Nakagami slid to 13th in FP2 ahead of Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli and will join Bagnaia and Oliveira in Q1, likewise Honda’s Pol Espargaro down in 17th.

A late crash for RNF Racing rookie Darryn Binder left him last on the timesheets and out of Q2.

Qualifying for the 2022 MotoGP Argentina GP gets underway at 5:05pm local time (9:05pm BST).

FP2 Results:

Cla	Rider		Bike	Time	Gap
1	Aleix Espargaro		Aprilia	1'38.244
2	Maverick Viñales		Aprilia	1'38.454	0.210
3	Jack Miller		Ducati	1'38.463	0.219
4	Fabio Quartararo		Yamaha	1'38.471	0.227
5	Brad Binder		KTM	1'38.548	0.304
6	Alex Rins		Suzuki	1'38.619	0.375
7	Joan Mir		Suzuki	1'38.626	0.382
8	Jorge Martin		Ducati	1'38.704	0.460
9	Johann Zarco		Ducati	1'38.797	0.553
10	Luca Marini		Ducati	1'38.915	0.671
11	Miguel Oliveira		KTM	1'38.924	0.680
12	Francesco Bagnaia		Ducati	1'38.943	0.699
13	Takaaki Nakagami		Honda	1'38.951	0.707
14	Franco Morbidelli		Yamaha	1'38.959	0.715
15	Marco Bezzecchi		Ducati	1'38.973	0.729
16	Enea Bastianini		Ducati	1'38.985	0.741
17	Pol Espargaro		Honda	1'39.178	0.934
18	Remy Gardner		KTM	1'39.503	1.259
19	Alex Marquez		Honda	1'39.553	1.309
20	Raúl Fernández		KTM	1'39.600	1.356
21	Andrea Dovizioso		Yamaha	1'39.749	1.505
22	Stefan Bradl		Honda	1'39.940	1.696
23	Fabio Di Giannantonio		Ducati	1'40.040	1.796
24	Darryn Binder		Yamaha	1'40.078	1.834
View full results