FP2

Free Practice 2 kicked off under sunny weather, setting the tone for an action-packed day. The 30-minute session before Qualifying started with almost all riders heading immediately onto the track. The only exception was Jack Miller, who received a 5-minute suspension from this session after he failed to stop immediately due to mechanical problems during Practice. His bike leaked oil on the track, which caused crashes for two other riders.

The lap times started in the range of 1:30 to 1:32. The first rider to take the lead, after five minutes, was Pedro Acosta, with Marc Márquez behind him and Raúl Fernández in third. But that didn’t last long, as Marc began an incredible lap. Meanwhile, Bastianini took the lead, which was then quickly taken by Marc, who finished an amazing lap with a time of 1:29.557. Behind him in second was his teammate Francesco Bagnaia, with Alex Márquez in third.

The majority of the riders chose a medium front tyre and soft rear tyre, with the exception of three riders who chose a different combination.

Meanwhile, Marc further improved his time in the lead, recording a lap in the 1:28s. Joan Mir, at Turn 4, had braking issues and went into the gravel trap, almost colliding with the air fence. With 12 minutes gone, the top five were: Marc, Bagnaia, Bezzecchi, Alex, and Acosta. A yellow flag appeared for a moment as Pedro Acosta crashed at Turn 1. Luckily, both he and the bike were okay, and Acosta rejoined the session immediately.

With 12 minutes left, most of the riders were in the pits, changing tyres before their final attempts before qualifying. The top 10 looked as follows: Marc, Bagnaia, Bezzecchi, Alex, Marini, Acosta, Di Giannantonio, Mir, Morbidelli and Quartararo.

Aldeguer, who had started a good lap, made a mistake in the final corners, forcing him to abandon it. The second yellow flag came with two minutes left when Johann Zarco crashed at Turn 7. Acosta managed to improve before the end, moving to 2nd before starting his last flying lap. Marc remained in first place for the rest of the session, while Bagnaia improved to 2nd place. Meanwhile, Binder had some technical issues with his bike in the final moments. Even before the session ended, most riders stayed in the pits, as they only wanted to test the tyre option they planned for qualifying and the sprint.

The top 10 at the end were: Marc, Bagnaia, Acosta, Bezzecchi, Alex, Marini, Fernández, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Mir, Morbidelli.

Q1

The riders in this part of qualifying, fighting to advance to Q2, were: Bastianini, Ogura, Marini, Quartararo, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Martin, Oliveira, Rins, Bezzecchi, Miller and Viñales, who is still struggling with shoulder pain.
After two timed laps, the top 2 riders were Bezzecchi and Martin. Quartararo started his lap very well, but made a small mistake in the second sector, so he only improved to 5th place. With 7 minutes left, the riders slowly made their way to the pits to change tyres. The tyre options were soft on the rear and medium on the front. In third place was Bastianini, with Di Giannantonio right behind him. Viñales had not yet gone onto the track. Miller, who still seemed shaken after yesterday’s accident, was at the back in 16th place.

Bastianini started a very good lap, which put him into first place, pushing the Aprilia duo down. Meanwhile, Luca Marini started a strong lap as well and improved to 3rd, splitting the Aprilia riders. Alex Rins improved and jumped to 7th place. With the chequered flag out, it was Bastianini and Bezzecchi who advanced into Q2.

Q2

This part of the qualifying session continued under sunny conditions with the temperature rising. Once again, riders chose a soft rear tyre and medium front tyre. The first lap times were in the range of 1:30 to 1:28. After just 5 minutes, we had a third yellow flag, caused by Johann Zarco, who had another crash this afternoon. Meanwhile, both Márquez brothers started incredible laps. Alex briefly jumped into first place before his brother took it from him.

With 5 minutes gone, the top 5 were: Marc, Alex, Bagnaia, Acosta and Bezzecchi. As if there wasn’t enough drama, Pedro Acosta then had technical issues with his bike and was seen pushing it back to the pits.

After a quick stop, the riders returned to the track. There was a change in the lead as for a quick moment Bagnaia was first, then Bezzecchi. Alex looked like he could jump to the top but ended up only in 2nd place. With 3 minutes left, Marc Márquez had a crash causing a yellow flag, but he rejoined quickly, making the end even more dramatic. In the end, there wasn’t much change in the positions. Pole position went to Bezzecchi.

The session ended as follows: Bezzecchi, Alex Márquez, Bagnaia, Marc Márquez, Bastianini, Aldeguer, Acosta, Morbidelli, Fernández, Mir, Binder, Zarco.