Valencia MotoGP: Miller quickest in FP2 as Mir crashes

Just 0.749 seconds covered the top 19 from Miller down to Alex Marquez in FP2, with the likes of Mir and joint-nearest title rival Fabio Quartararo missing out on a provisional Q2 place after Friday’s running.

Franco Morbidelli, just as he did in FP1, set the early pace at the start of the second session with a 1m32.065s.

The Petronas SRT rider then guided his Yamaha to a 1m31.383s, before Johann Zarco on the 2019 Avintia Ducati edged ahead with a 1m31.162s.

Suzuki rider Mir would depose Zarco a few seconds later with a 1m31.080s, before the Frenchman re-established himself at the top of the pile with a 1m31.053s.

This stood as the benchmark for almost 20 minutes, when FP1 pacesetter Takaaki Nakagami set the best lap of the day so far with a 1m30.713s on his year-old LCR Honda. 

Championship leader Mir’s Friday hit a blip with around 11 minutes to go when he crashed at the Turn 4 right-hander.

A late flurry of time attack laps put Nakagami’s lap under threat, but only Miller could surpass it when he fired in a 1m30.662s right at the end of FP2 to end the day 0.091s clear of the Japanese rider.

Miller’s Pramac teammate Francesco Bagnaia completed the top three ahead of KTM’s Pol Espargaro, while Zarco was shuffled back to fifth at the chequered flag. 

He headed the factory Ducati of Andrea Dovizioso, with Cal Crutchlow – who was confirmed as a Yamaha test rider for 2021 earlier on Friday – bagging a provisional Q2 place late on with a 1m30.930s. 

Of the top three title contenders, only Suzuki’s Alex Rins – who is joint-second in the standings with Quartararo – holds a provisional Q2 spot after finishing FP2 eighth ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and the Yamaha of Maverick Vinales.

The final rider currently occupying a Q2 place is Morbidelli, despite ending FP2 13^th, with Stefan Bradl (Honda) and Mir ahead of him on the individual timesheet.

Quartararo was just 0.704s off the pace, but was only 16^th in FP2 behind KTM’s Brad Binder and Danilo Petrucci on the Ducati, with Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira and Valentino Rossi on the sister factory Yamaha behind.

Marquez matched Rossi’s lap with a 1m31.371s, but suffered two crashes during the session. Tito Rabat (Avintia) and Aprilia’s Lorenzo Savadori completed the field.

Valencia MotoGP - FP2 results:

Cla	Rider		Bike	Time	Gap
1	Jack Miller		Ducati	1'30.622
2	Takaaki Nakagami		Honda	1'30.713	0.091
3	Francesco Bagnaia		Ducati	1'30.742	0.120
4	Pol Espargaro		KTM	1'30.821	0.199
5	Johann Zarco		Ducati	1'30.899	0.277
6	Andrea Dovizioso		Ducati	1'30.926	0.304
7	Cal Crutchlow		Honda	1'30.930	0.308
8	Alex Rins		Suzuki	1'30.947	0.325
9	Aleix Espargaro		Aprilia	1'30.989	0.367
10	Maverick Viñales		Yamaha	1'31.062	0.440
11	Joan Mir		Suzuki	1'31.080	0.458
12	Stefan Bradl		Honda	1'31.106	0.484
13	Franco Morbidelli		Yamaha	1'31.125	0.503
14	Danilo Petrucci		Ducati	1'31.230	0.608
15	Brad Binder		KTM	1'31.261	0.639
16	Fabio Quartararo		Yamaha	1'31.326	0.704
17	Miguel Oliveira		KTM	1'31.330	0.708
18	Valentino Rossi		Yamaha	1'31.371	0.749
19	Alex Marquez		Honda	1'31.371	0.749
20	Tito Rabat		Ducati	1'32.058	1.436
21	Lorenzo Savadori		Aprilia	1'32.393	1.771
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