Aleix Espargaro claimed the top spot in the second practice session leading up to the MotoGP race in Catalunya this weekend. Marc Marquez, on the other hand, failed to qualify for Q2 for the second consecutive race. The 34-year-old rider, who recently announced his retirement at the end of the year, set a new lap record with an impressive time of 1.38.562s.
KTM continued to show their strength since Friday morning, with Brad Binder and Pedro Acosta finishing just 0.073s behind Espargaro. Binder’s performance should boost his confidence after suffering two separate crashes at Turn 2 in the first twenty minutes of the session. His team had to make adjustments to his bike for the final laps.
Francesco Bagnaia secured the fourth position in the last set of laps, closely followed by Jack Miller, Bagnaia’s former teammate at Ducati. Championship leader Jorge Martin finished in sixth place, while Enea Bastianini redeemed himself after a disappointing first practice session, finishing in seventh place ahead of Franco Morbidelli.
Alex Rins secured a spot in Q2 with an impressive lap, claiming ninth place. Maverick Vinales, riding for Aprilia, completed the top ten positions, with the two Aprilia riders separated by less than half a second.
The Gresini Ducati duo, Alex and Marc Marquez, came very close to qualifying for Q2, with Alex suffering a late crash during the final laps. Miguel Oliveira and Raul Fernandez from Trackhouse Racing were among Fabio Quartararo in the final stages, as Quartararo had to rely on his second bike after a crash at the challenging Turn 5.
Las dificultades de la VR46 continuaron, con Marco Bezzecchi terminando por delante de su compañero de equipo Fabio Di Giannantonio en los puestos 16 y 17, respectivamente. Di Giannantonio también sufrió dos accidentes durante la sesión.
Una vez más, Honda tuvo dificultades para seguir el ritmo del resto del pelotón, ya que sus cuatro pilotos ocuparon las últimas cuatro posiciones. Johann Zarco terminó por delante de su compañero de equipo Takaaki Nakagami por más de medio segundo. Joan Mir superó a Luca Marini, pero la situación de Honda sigue siendo sombría a pesar de algunas actualizaciones en la moto.
El piloto invitado Stefan Bradl tuvo que ausentarse de la segunda sesión de entrenamientos debido a un virus estomacal.
