The Japanese rider heads Viñales on Day 1, with Crutchlow making it two Hondas in the top three in Teruel
Friday, 23 October 2020
Fresh from a new contract with HRC announced on Thursday, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) hit the ground running on Friday at the Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel, nearly two tenths clear to end the day fastest ahead of Maverick Viñales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP). Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda Castrol) made it two Hondas in the top three as he took third overall, bouncing back from a technical issue in the morning, but Honda had also made it a 1-2 in FP1 with Alex Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) dominating ahead of Nakagami as the Japanese marque most definitely shot first on Friday.
FP1
Alex Marquez opened his weekend with absolute domination in FP1, the rookie setting a time attack to pull over four tenths clear of 2021 teammate Nakagami on his tail. Marquez did crash late in the session - a carbon copy of his moment during the race last weekend but this time it proving enough to send him into the gravel - but rider ok and already well ahead of the field. Stefan Bradl (Repsol Honda Team) was fourth overall too to make more good reading for Honda, and lost out to third by just 0.010 to Championship leader Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar). Bradl also tried a new carbon-reinforced chassis on Friday.
Mir was 0.819 down but third, starting the weekend as the highest Championship challenger. Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) completed the top five, with Maverick Viñales the next of the top four in the title fight as he took sixth in FP1.
Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) was the top Ducati in P7 although just over a second off Marquez, with Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) right behind him. Aleix's younger brother Pol Espargaro (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was the top Austrian machine a fitting 0.041 off the number 41, with Crutchlow completing the top ten by just 0.010 despite a technical problem at Turn 15. Johann Zarco (Esponsorama Racing) was denied the top ten by only 0.004.
FP2
Morbidelli was fastest in the opening stages of the afternoon session as plenty of riders went immediately quicker than they did in the morning, the Italian leading from Zarco and Quartararo early doors. With ten minutes gone, 'El Diablo' and title rival Joan Mir played a bit of cat and mouse on track too.
Initially, the Suzuki rider was ahead and got the dashboard message of who was following him, keeping it pinned for another couple of sectors before rolling off and letting the Yamaha past. Mir then kept on Quartararo's tail before, next time round after Turn 1, it was the Yamaha rider's turn to roll off and let his rival through as they switched formation again. And remained close together on track...
Not long after that, Nakagami struck to take over from Morbidelli at the top, although the laptimes remained slower than Alex Marquez' FP1 time. Next, Pol Espargaro shot up to P2 with 18 minutes to go to shuffle Morbidelli down further, but work still seemed focused on race setups for most. The classic Friday time attack was about to begin with 12 minutes to go, however, with those crucial top ten provisional places in Q2 up for grabs.
First Aleix Espargaro moved up into P3 before Championship leader Mir then became the first to depose Nakagami, a 1:41.182 seeing the Suzuki man go top of the pile with the fastest lap of the weekend. Teammate Alex Rins went P6 a few seconds after, before Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) and Iker Lecuona (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) shot into the top 10 in the session.
Mir was on another fast lap, but Nakagami then raised the bar. The Japanese rider set the first 1:47 of the weekend to go 0.251 clear of Mir and lay down quite a marker. Crutchlow and Bradl also moved into the top six as Lecuona shot to P3 with a great lap, but Nakagami was another two tenths under his time in Sector 3 next time around. A 1:47.782 saw him extend his lead even further, as Crutchlow made it an LCR Honda 1-2 moments later. Quartararo then moved up into the top three, and that was his final shot at the top.
Would anyone be able to ruin the Honda stranglehold? They would. After a red sector and then losing a little more time on a previous run at it, Viñales' final lap of the day split the LCR Honda teammates as he slotted into second. The number 12 was only the second rider in the 1:47s, but still nearly two tenths off the top.
And so it's Nakagami who ends the day on top on the combined timesheets, ahead of Viñales' late lunge and Crutchlow's P3. Quartararo was fourth overall on Friday, half a tenth off third, but he had even closer company from Mir right behind him once again, with the points leader ending the day in fifth overall and 0.018 off the Frenchman.
After finishing P1 on the FP1 timesheets, a mistake on a fast lap sees Alex Marquez drop to P6 on the combined standings by virtue of his fastest lap in the morning, that putting him only 0.002 off Mir overall. Aragon GP winner Rins ended Day 1 in P7, with Marquez splitting the Suzukis.
The quickest KTM was rookie Lecuona as the Spaniard goes from P15 to P8 on Day 1, ending Friday just ahead of the Espargaro brothers. The leader of those was Aleix Espargaro, the Aprilia man ninth overall, with Pol Espargaro holding onto the final provisional automatic Q2 spot in P10 – 0.013 off Aleix's best.
It's just 0.657 covering the leading 10 competitors, but the gaps don't get any bigger. Bradl was 11th on Day 1 after another impressive performance, just 0.005 off the top ten, with Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), Zarco, Binder and Morbidelli rounding out the fastest fifteen on Friday.
So where are the other Ducatis? It was a tough opener for the Borgo Panigale factory. Zarco was the quickest in P13, with Danilo Petrucci (Ducati Team) in 17th, Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) 18th, Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) 19th, Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) - who also crashed - 20th and Tito Rabat (Esponsorama Racing) locking out the final places on the timesheets. They'll be hoping for a lot more on Saturday morning as FP3 decides the final top ten automatic graduates to Q2.
Tune in for that at 10:55 local time (GMT+2), before qualifying will then decide the grid for the Teruel GP from 14:50.
Click here for combined timesheets
MotoGP™: the five fastest on Friday
1 Takaaki Nakagami* - LCR Honda Idemitsu - Honda - 1:47.782
2 Maverick Viñales - Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP - Yamaha - +0.175
3 Cal Crutchlow* - LCR Honda Castrol - Honda - +0.329
4 Fabio Quartararo* - Petronas Yamaha SRT - Yamaha - +0.382
5 Joan Mir - Team Suzuki Ecstar - Suzuki - +0.400
*Independent Team rider
Lowes lights it up to lead the way on Day 1
The Aragon GP winner picks up where he left off, ahead of Navarro and Garzo on Friday
Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) continued his familiarity with the top of the timesheets at MotorLand on Friday in the Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel, the Brit ending the day fastest overall. Jorge Navarro (Lightech Speed Up) ran him close, however, just half a tenth off to bounce back from a crash in FP1. Hector Garzo (Flexbox HP 40) ended the day in an impressive P3, 0.260 off the top.
FP1
Augusto Fernandez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) struck late in FP1 to top the first session of the weekend, denying Aragon GP winner and teammate Sam Lowes with a late 1:52.623 to pull 0.134 clear of the Brit. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Lightech Speed Up) kept his pace rolling from last weekend to complete the top three, another two tenths down, and showing Speed Up's pace at the venue once again.
The morning began with a few familiar names from the Aragon GP fighting it out for first as Lowes, Di Giannantonio and Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) proved the fastest out the blocks, with Luca Marini (Sky Racing Team VR46) also very much in touch. The two Sky Racing Team VR46 riders were leapfrogged by the flag, however, with Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing), Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) all leaping up the timesheets later in the session. They locked out fourth to sixth in that order, leaving Bezzecchi down in seventh.
Navarro was eighth in FP1 and just lost out to Bezzecchi by 0.010, the Spaniard also recovering from an early crash to bounce back. Navarro in turn got the better of ninth-placed Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) by an equally tiny gap of 0.014 as it closed up throughout the tight top ten.
Luca Marini ultimately completed that top ten in FP1, denying Championship leader Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) by a smidge as the ‘Beast’ finished the morning in P11. Aragon GP podium finisher Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo), meanwhile, took P17…
FP2
Almost immediately in FP2, Lowes went six tenths quicker than his teammate in FP1 and on his next lap, the Brit was faster again. Lowes was lightning out the box but so was Edgar Pons (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) as he found time too.
After a good start to the session though, Pons crashed at Turn 8 and subsequently, his Kalex-Triumph slid through the gravel, down the hill and back onto the track at the Turn 9 apex. The session was briefly red-flagged with just under 25 minutes to go to clear the gravel.
Once underway again, Bezzecchi became the next to crash, the Italian at Turn 3 - rider ok. Lowes sat 0.2 clear of Garzo and Jake Dixon inside the top three at that point, but the number 22 would be next to take a tumble. Almost identical to Pons' incident, gravel once again brought out the Red Flags.
Once back underway for the second time, with nine minutes left on the clock, Navarro was able to cut Lowes’ advantage down to less than a tenth. There were a few more improvers late on near the top too, so it's Lowes leading Navarro ahead of Garzo, with Di Giannantonio and Joe Roberts rounding out the top five - the American just 0.001 off 'Diggia'.
Jorge Martin put in a late lunge back towards the front as the Aragon GP winner took sixth, 0.415 back. Dixon drops to P7 overall, with Gardner, Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Pons rounding out the top 10.
Bezzecchi was forced to settle for 11th on Day 1, ahead of Fernandez as the Spaniard took P12 by virtue of his FP1 time. Hafizh Syahrin (Inde Aspar Team) was next up, with Championship leader Bastianini rounding out the fastest 14 and currently the last rider set to move through to Q2...
So where's Marini? Down in P23 after a tougher day on the timesheets. He'll want to bounce back quickly in FP3, with that beginning at 11:55 (GMT +2) before qualifying at 15:50.
Click here for combined timesheets
Moto2™: the five fastest on Friday
1 Sam Lowes - EG 0,0 Marc VDS - Kalex - 1:51.920
2 Jorge Navarro - Lightech Speed Up - Speed Up - +0.058
3 Hector Garzo - Flexbox HP 40 - Kalex +0.260
4 Fabio Di Giannantonio - Lightech Speed Up - Speed Up - +0.289
5 Joe Roberts - Tennor American Racing - Kalex - +0.290
Masia remains master of MotorLand on Day 1
The Aragon GP winner pips Alcoba by 0.004 to head the timesheets on Friday, with Fenati completing the top three
Aragon GP winner Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) remains the man to beat at MotorLand after Day 1 of the Gran Premio Liqui Moly de Teruel, going fastest in FP1 and no one able to depose him in the afternoon. It was close, however, with Jeremy