Practice report
MotoGP Qatar GP
Qatar MotoGP: Marquez tops FP2, Lorenzo and Rossi facing Q1
Honda rider Marc Marquez dominated the second practice session for the 2019 MotoGP season opener in Qatar.
Valentin Khorounzhiy
Edited: Mar 8, 2019, 7:57 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Marquez grabbed a tow from Yamaha rider Maverick Vinales late in the session to eclipse Johann Zarco's existing lap record set in qualifying last year.
The session, held in the evening under the lights and thus more representative for the race than the daytime FP1 and FP3, was delayed by five minutes for track clean-up following ex-MotoGP rider Tom Luthi's big crash exiting the Turn 7 right-hander in Moto2 practice.
When it kicked off, Rossi's first-practice benchmark was surpassed in almost no time, as Marquez fired in the first sub-1m55s lap of the weekend on just his second flying lap.
He was briefly overtaken by Ducati's Danilo Petrucci a few minutes later, but immediately responded with a 1m54.767s to end his opening run out front.
The reigning champion remained top until Suzuki rookie Joan Mir equipped a pair of fresh soft tyres and shot up to first place from 13th with a 1m54.433s as late-session qualifying simulations kicked off.
Pramac Ducati rider Jack Miller, likewise on new softs, soon surpassed Mir, before Franco Morbidelli took his turn out front, having recovered from a high-speed Turn 1 crash earlier in FP2, which had left his Yamaha on fire.
Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso then went quickest with five minutes left on the clock, but was subsequently outpaced by Vinales.
However, Marquez crossed the start-finish line moments after the Yamaha man to go almost half a second quicker with a 1m53.380s, the new lap record.
Vinales' effort proved good enough for second, ahead of Miller and the Aussie's former teammate Petrucci.
Rookie Fabio Quartararo scored an impressive fifth, two places up on Petronas SRT Yamaha teammate Morbidelli, with Dovizioso slotting in between the pair.
Suzuki's Alex Rins fired in a personal-best at the chequered flag to move up to eighth place, ahead of Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro and Mir.
Rins' last-gasp effort demoted Marquez's new teammate Jorge Lorenzo to 11th, as he ended the session 1.048s off the pace.
Rossi was only 17th, the only rider in the field not to improve on his FP1 lap. He and Lorenzo, as well as 13th-placed LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow, potentially face having to go through Q1, as posting a better laptime is likely to be difficult in the daytime third practice.
Pol Espargaro led the way among the KTM contingent, posting the 16th-best time, 1.673s slower than Marquez.
FP2 times:
Pos. # Rider Bike Time Gap 1 93 
Marc Marquez Honda 1'53.380 2 12 
Maverick Viñales Yamaha 1'53.854 0.474 3 43 
Jack Miller Ducati 1'53.908 0.528 4 9 
Danilo Petrucci Ducati 1'54.053 0.673 5 20 
Fabio Quartararo Yamaha 1'54.154 0.774 6 4 
Andrea Dovizioso Ducati 1'54.256 0.876 7 21 
Franco Morbidelli Yamaha 1'54.275 0.895 8 42 
Alex Rins Suzuki 1'54.320 0.940 9 41 Aleix Espargaro Aprilia 1'54.367 0.987 10 36 Joan Mir Suzuki 1'54.402 1.022 11 99 
Jorge Lorenzo Honda 1'54.428 1.048 12 30 
Takaaki Nakagami Honda 1'54.444 1.064 13 35 
Cal Crutchlow Honda 1'54.452 1.072 14 63 
Francesco Bagnaia Ducati 1'54.801 1.421 15 53 Tito Rabat Ducati 1'55.032 1.652 16 44 
Pol Espargaro KTM 1'55.053 1.673 17 46 Valentino Rossi Yamaha 1'55.137 1.757 18 5 
Johann Zarco KTM 1'55.412 2.032 19 29 Andrea Iannone Aprilia 1'55.432 2.052 20 88 
Miguel Oliveira KTM 1'55.635 2.255 21 17 
Karel Abraham Ducati 1'55.654 2.274 22 55 
Hafizh Syahrin KTM 1'56.437 3.057 23 38 Bradley Smith Aprilia 1'56.834 3.454
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Zarco tips Quartararo to emulate star MotoGP debut
Next article MotoGP warned of "no finishers" as Qatar keeps start time
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Valentin Khorounzhiy
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
WTCR
WTCR
Hungaroring
WTCR's April opener cancelled due to coronavirus
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Formula 1
Formula 1
Australian GP
Australian GP issues update on nine F1 paddock coronavirus tests
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
General
General
Motorsport Games unveils 15 disciplines for 2020
Latest news
MotoGP Australian GP: Marc Marquez recovers from crash to take pole at wet Phillip Island
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
49 min
MotoGP Australian GP: Marc Marquez recovers from crash to take pole at wet Phillip Island
No factory Honda bikes in Australian GP as Luca Marini withdraws due to virus
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
No factory Honda bikes in Australian GP as Luca Marini withdraws due to virus
"We're just a step behind" - what McLaren is trying to solve with its final 2026 upgrades
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
2 h
"We're just a step behind" - what McLaren is trying to solve with its final 2026 upgrades
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe