Marco is the best ahead of Martìn and Aleix Espargarò, then Bagnaia, Miller and Quartararo. Q2 also for Enea Bastianini 8th behind Marini. Bad fall by Marquez who luckily hits Zarco unharmed
Written by Marco Caregnato – Fri, 16/06/2023 – 16:21
16:28 – Our LIVE coverage of MotoGP FP2 at the Sachsenring ends here, thanks for following it with us. Stay tuned to GPOne for all the statements from the protagonists!
16:25 – Despite the rain, today almost all the riders were able to improve on the morning’s references with Bezzecchi finishing in front of everyone on Friday at the Sachsenring. Jorge MArtìn and Aleix Espargarò complete the front row, with Bagnaia, Miller and Quartararo from 4th to 6th place. Seventh Luca Marini, who in extremis hits Q2 in front of a revived Bastianini and Alex Marquez.
Zarco stays in Q2 thanks to the morning weather, after being hit right in by Marc Marquez. In fact, the Spaniard’s Honda hit Johann’s Ducati after the front braked in the first corner. Marc will have to tackle Q1 on what is probably his favorite track or at least the one where he has been consistently at the top in the past.
16:22 – Gino Borsoi shoots Marquez at the microphones of SKY: “Luckily Zarco is fine, but the thing that saddened me was seeing a champion like Marc Marquez who, instead of going to check Johann’s condition, only thought about running to the garage to get the second bike after the accident” .
16:18 – Alex Marquez was about to hit Q2 but makes a mistake and crashes! Session closed with Bezzecchi in front of Martìn and Aleix Espargarò. The ranking:
16:17 – Great time by Aleix Espargarò who scores the best time! Several red helmets but now, it’s not over. Bezzecchi takes the best time!!!
16:15 – Marini enters the top ten in 8th position and launches himself for the last attempt. Aleix Espargarò was also fast, now launching himself while the checkered flag was waving, Marquez took it right in and was in Q1. Aleix red helmet!
16:13 – It went really well for Zarco, who managed to avoid potentially very serious damage in the impact. There are only 2 minutes left before the checkered flag, Marquez and Zarco probably won’t return. Marc in Q1 at the Sachsenring. Meanwhile, another crash at 1 and it’s Fabio Di Giannantonio. Marc tries but probably just to test the start, because he doesn’t have time to cross the finish line before the checkered flag.
16:12 – The dynamics are very clear: Marquez was arriving in turn 1 while Zarco was leaving the pits. Marc’s front closed and he couldn’t do anything to avoid the crash. Luckily Zarco saw him in time and lifted his right leg, avoiding an impact that would have been catastrophic. Now the red flag is removed.
16:09 – BAD FALL OF MARQUEZ who hits ZARCO’s bike! Red flag, terrible impact.
16:08 – Marc Marquez returns to the track and seems determined to set his own best time. Maverick Vinales crash in turn 1, his session probably ends here.
16:07 – The ranking has changed a lot, here it is with just over 6 minutes to go. Quartararo also enters the ten now with an excellent 4th time.
16:05 – Miller snatches second position now, interrupting Ducati’s long theory in front of everyone. Now Marc Marquez is 12th and out of Q2, he would be sensational here at the Sachsenring.
16:04 – Ducati monologue now! Bagnaia scores the first time ahead of Martìn, Bastianini, Alex Marquez and Zarco!!!
16:02 – Bagnaia improves and hits the 2nd chronometric performance! Meanwhile both Bastianini and Marini are improving.
16:00 – A look at the league table which has changed further. Great time for Augusto Fernandez who scores the 4th time trial!
15:59 – Martìn sets the best time of the session, Vinales is in 7th position. Red helmet also for Bastianini in the first sector, he could aim for the top ten.
15:58 – Red helmet for Vinales, Quartararo is also pushing, like Morbidelli. Lots of time attacks when there are 13 minutes left until the checkered flag.
15:57 – Marquez saves a potentially dangerous situation. The bike was almost throwing him into a highside after losing the rear in a direction change. Luckily he saved her big time.
15:55 – Miller red helmet halfway through the track, but a yellow flag appears. Fall for Miguel Oliveira but there are no pictures of the accident. The bike is carried away at turn 10, but there are no pictures of the rider now. The yellow flag is removed though, so it shouldn’t be anything serious.
15:53 - Raul Fernandez, author of the crash with RNF’s Aprilia, is taken to the medical center. Session certainly over for the Spanish. Even Nakagami taken to the medical center, it is seen that there have been some consequences for the Japanese as well.
15:51 – Di Giannantonio manages to hoist himself into 2nd position in the combined ahead of Marc Marquez. Fabio signed the same time to the thousandth of Zarco, who however scored it earlier and therefore is ahead in the standings. Exactly twenty minutes at the end of this FP2. Here is the combined ranking.
15:49 – Miller crosses the finish line and climbs to 5th position in the combined, 2nd in the session behind Oliveira. Bagnaia is now 10th, while Di Giannantonio is also improving, who in the meantime has slipped to 11th position.
15:48 – Red helmet for Jack Miller, who is perhaps on the track on new soft tires and is starting his first time attack.
15:46 – The yellow flag has been displayed again to allow the marshals to move Fernandez’s bike. There are 26 minutes left until the checkered flag and we will certainly soon see the first real time attacks because both Oliveira and Marini have shown how fast the track is.
15:44 – Lap canceled for Marini, who passes under the yellow flag of Fernandez and sees his best lap up to now mortified. The yellow flag is still displayed in the 4th sector, but for now we don’t believe the red is displayed. Now the yellow has also been removed, session ok. Marini improves in the first sectors but then loses the front and gives up.
15:43 – Crash for Raul Fernandez, who crashed in a very strange point on the track. Looks like he has a hand problem.
15:42 – Marini scores another red helmet in the first sector despite having more than exploited tires by now. He could make a big leap forward even now.
15:40 – Oliveira breaks the delay and scores the third time in the combined, the first rider to take a place in Q2 in this FP2. The track is now fine, Marini is also pushing but he has an average at the rear so it’s not about his time attack.
15:38 – Both Marini and Oliveira score yellow helmets in the first sectors, improving the morning references. Perhaps the dance of the time attacks begins also because it is plausible that more rain will fall before the checkered flag.
15:36 – After waiting in the initial phase, he is putting together a stint alongside Fabio Quartararo, who is now returning to the pits. Spectacular slow motion of Martìn!
15:34 – Oliveira remains ahead of everyone in the FP2 standings, but times are falling less than expected. Now there are 37 minutes left until the checkered flag.
15:31 – Bastianini is pushing to try and improve his standings. At the moment Enea is 17th and obviously out of Q2.
15:28 – Augusto Fernandez is the first rider to be able to improve on this morning’s benchmark, so the track is already ‘almost’ in perfect condition.
15:26 – Times are getting interesting, Oliveira is now collecting 7 tenths of this morning’s references in the second sector. There are more than 46 minutes to go before the checkered flag, it seems that nothing is defined for access to Q2.
15:24 – A look at the standings for this FP2, with times still far from those of this morning.
15:22 – The session has already restarted, the stop was very short and gave the marshals the opportunity to clean up the debris. Pilots already on the track.
15:19 – This break could help the track dry completely by the checkered flag. The marshals are at work in turn 11.
15:18 – Red flag, perhaps due to Nakagami’s debris at turn 11. Perhaps the marshals want to fix the escape route before starting the session again.
15:17 – Fall of Nakagami, who completely destroys his Honda but fortunately does not suffer physical damage. The corner is the same where Morbidelli crashed this morning.
15:15 – This is the classification of this FP2 with Oliveira setting the best time. We are more than two seconds beyond this morning’s references, we will need to wait before seeing potentially valid times to snatch Q2
15:13 – Vinales joins Pecco Bagnaia’s queue. Maverick is currently out of Q2, but he will perhaps have the chance to try today.
15:12 – For now, both Marquez and Quartararo remain in the pits. They are probably waiting for the road conditions to improve.
15:11 – Green light in the pitlane, this FP2 starts at the Sachsenring. Drivers on the track on slick tyres.
15:07 – Welcome to our LIVE coverage of MotoGP FP2 at Sachsenring. As expected, the rain fell on the track after the first session, but the track dried out during the Moto3 and Moto2, so it is possible that especially in the final stages of this session it will be possible for the riders to improve their times from FP1.
The first free practice session at Sachsenring gave Johann Zarco a smile, able to regulate the undisputed king of this track, that Marc Marquez who made no mistakes this morning and managed to hoist his Honda into second position. Third time trial for Aleix Espargaròdespite a heel that is still very sore from the fracture he sustained while cycling at Mugello.
Alex Marquez confirmed his excellent form by signing the 4th time ahead of Martìn and Fabio Quartararo, who also ran into a crash in Turn 1 right in the last minute of the session. Binder places the only KTM in the top ten in seventh position ahead of Bagnaia and an excellent Fabio Di Giannantoniowho has always been very strong at the Sachsenring and could finally experience a really positive weekend.
Bezzecchi achieved momentary access to Q2 only in the last attempt, setting the tenth fastest time. A decisive factor, because rain is expected for the afternoon session, which would make it impossible for the riders to improve on this morning’s performance. At the moment, Marini, Vinales, Jack Miller and Franco Morbidelli are out of the ten, and therefore in Q1, who made a mistake just before Quartararo did, losing his M1 on the fast right-hand side of the Sachsenring. Enea Bastianini also bad, currently 17th.
Our LIVE coverage of FP2 will start at 3pm, Stay Tuned!
This is the FP1 standings:
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