Fabio Quartararo leads Yamaha 1-2 in the second Indonesian MotoGP practice

Reigning MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo, set a new lap record to lead a factory Yamaha 1-2 in the second practice of the Indonesian MotoGP at Mandalika.

In the final minutes of FP2 for the Indonesian Grand Prix, Fabio Quartararo managed to beat teammate Franco Morbidelli to the top of the timesheets.

Quartararo got off to a bad start after his M1’s engine went down at Turn 4, forcing him to come to a halt and catch a ride back to the pits to get his backup bike.

With the track being bone dry for the start of Mandalika MotoGP FP2, Johann Zarco and Miguel Oliveira were able to go faster than the top time from FP1 right away.

Meanwhile, as the Mandalika International Circuit tarmac continued to clear up, the lap times got faster and faster, setting up a final time attack in the closing stages. With rain showers possible overnight ahead of FP3, the top ten on Friday could well advance directly to the pole shootout in Saturday’s qualifying session.

Oliveira was the first rider to break Espargaro’s morning mark of 1:34.499s, before Zarco took the lead with a time of 1:33.310s.

As the practice neared its conclusion, Jorge Martin was the first man to break into the 1:31 bracket with a time of 1:31.904s, but he was quickly overtaken by Pramac Ducati teammate Johann Zarco by 0.011s.

Quartararo managed to wind up his back-up M1 for a late charge on soft compound tyres to shoot to the top of the times with only a few minutes remaining, denying Morbidelli the top place right at the finish, though Yamaha might be heartened following a tough opening race in Qatar.

Zarco would finish third, ahead of Martin and Enea Bastianini, with the Qatar GP winner crashing out at Turn 13 late in the race as he attempted to take the lead at the end of Friday, with the Italian walking away unharmed.

Honda’s Marc Marquez, who suffered an even faster get-off at Turn 11, barrel-rolling into the gravel before walking away presumably unharmed, also had a spill towards the session’s finale.

Due to the numerous yellows that followed, Ducati’s Jack Miller finished sixth overall, ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and KTM factory combo Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira.

Meanwhile, Alex Rins improved his Suzuki GSX-RR to a potentially vital tenth late in the race to deny Andrea Dovizioso of RNF Yamaha the lead, with Gresini’s Fabio Di Gianantonio the quickest rookie in 14th.

Honda were left licking their wounds after finishing first and third in the initial practice, with Takaaki Nakagami finishing 12th and factory riders Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez finishing 19th and 22nd, respectively.

Joan Mir, the 2020 MotoGP world champion, and Francesco Bagnaia, the 2021 vice-champion, joined them at the back of the pack, finishing 20th and 21st, respectively.

INDONESIAN MOTOGP, MANDALIKA – FREE PRACTICE (2) RESULTS