Petronas Yamaha’s Franco Morbidelli topped the second MotoGP free practice session at Jerez this afternoon, held in blistering conditions that saw laptimes significantly down from this morning.
Michelin reported a track temperature of 56°C in the afternoon period and Morbidelli’s fastest lap of 1’38.125 was eight-tenths down on Marc Marquez’ quickest from this morning.
Most of the pack worked on tyre options for Sunday’s race - which will be held at a similar time - with most appearing to favour a hard front/soft rear option as the harder front tyre gives the most support on a greasy track.
Morbidelli strapped soft/soft to his M1 for his brief time attack, and he was able to push ahead of team-mate Fabio Quartararo bu 0.027s to claim top spot.
But it was Red Bull KTM’s Brad Binder who pulled off the shock of the session, bagging third place on the works RC-16 with a 1’38.250.
In terms of overall pace, it was only Quartararo who found any more speed from this morning which left Marquez king of the hill for Friday.
It was also Quartararo who had the most ominous lap analysis, with 12 laps in the 1'38s, five more than Marc Marquez whose used-tyre run was interrupted by a crash a turn two. Brother Alex also went down which gave the Repsol mechanics some work to do.
Maverick Vinales managed five laps in the 1'38s while Valentino Rossi's struggle continued and he couldn't break through 1'39 barrier at all. Protege Morbidelli put in seven, Pol Espargaro four, Cal Crutchlow two and Johann Zarco the best Ducati with four and a best of 1'38.610.
