Quartararo Leads Yamaha 1-2 In Indonesia Practice As Márquez Crashes
Calum Gill 08:19 18/03/2022
Reigning MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo led a Yamaha 1-2 in the second practice session at Indonesia’s Mandalika circuit.
There were fast late crashes in quick succession for Qatar GP winner Enea Bastianini and six-time champion Marc Márquez, with Bastianini managing a swift, safe dismount but Márquez then tumbling through the gravel, albeit seemingly ending up unhurt. With more grip put down on the track, riders were uniformly quicker almost right away despite the higher temperatures compared to the opening session that had run in the aftermath of overnight rain. Quartararo, a lowly 16th in the opening session, had his Yamaha M1 suffer a sudden power cutout heading out of Turn 2 just two laps into second practice - but regrouped to jump to the front of the timesheets as the session entered its final third.
The Frenchman’s 01:32.617 effort was soon completely obliterated as the field, fearing weather playing havoc with FP3 and making it impossible to improve, overwhelmingly opted for last-gasp qualifying simulations on fresh softs. Ultimately, it was Quartararo quickest again, the Yamaha man improving his own benchmark by a second to end up on a 01:31.60, 0.030 seconds up on team-mate Franco Morbidelli. Johann Zarco and Jorge Martín made it a Pramac Ducati 3-4, while Bastianini - despite his crash - and Jack Miller made it four Ducatis in the top six. Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaró, the Red Bull KTM duo of Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira, and Álex Rins (Suzuki) made up the top 10, Rins improving at the chequered flag after the yellow flags were cleared.
Andrea Dovizioso was 11th on the satellite RNF Yamaha, ahead of Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) and Maverick Viñales (Aprilia). Gresini rider Fabio Di Giannantonio's best lap of the day was good enough for 14th place, ahead of VR46's Marco Bezzecchi and Álex Márquez on the other LCR Honda bike. The Tech3 KTM duo of Raúl Fernández and Remy Gardner followed, with the Spaniard getting the better of the Australian.
The yellow flag disruptions helped create an unusual bottom part of the timesheets, with FP1 pace-setter Pol Espargaró (Repsol Honda) only 19th, three places up on Marc Márquez, with Joan Mir (Suzuki) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) ending up between them. While Mir looked to be struggling for pace throughout, Bagnaia seemed on course to slot into the top 10 with his late soft-tyre attempts but was thwarted by incidents up the road. Darryn Binder (RNF Yamaha) and Luca Marini (VR46) brought up the rear of the field on Lombok Island.
