Bagnaia sizzles at the Sachsenring

The Ducati Lenovo Team’s Francesco Bagnaia has come tantalising close to the 1:19s as he broke the All Time Lap Record in MotoGP™ FP2 at the Liqui Moly Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland. The Italian fired in a 1:20.018 to establish a new benchmark around the Sachsenring as Ducati riders locked out the top three in the afternoon session for the premier class. The Mooney VR46 Racing Team’s Luca Marini grabbed second and the FP1 pace-setter, Jack Miller, took third on the other factory-entered Desmosedici, with Aprilia Racing’s Aleix Espargaro the best of the rest.

Ducati continues its early dominance of the German GP

The twisty layout of the Sachsenring might not traditionally suit the Bologna bullets, but MotoGP™ is an especially competitive beast these days and so it was that the Ducati Lenovo Team had already gone one-two in FP1 this weekend. Miller led the way then with a 1:21.479 but that time was beaten early in the afternoon session by several riders, Aleix Espargaro seizing the ascendancy with a 1:20.789 on his first run and Bagnaia taking up second spot at just 0.054 seconds slower.

Miller himself was one of the earliest to switch to genuine time attack mode in the closing stages of FP2 and, armed with new Michelin soft slick tyres on the front and rear of his Desmosedici, he vaulted back to the top with a 1:20.211. Aleix Espargaro twice came close to bettering the Australian again with a 1:20.284 and a 1:20.219 on consecutive laps, but it fell to the man on the other red Ducati to get the job done.

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Bagnaia broke Marc Marquez’s three-year-old All Time Lap Record of 1:20.195 when he laid down a 1:20.132 on a medium-soft tyre combination in the final three minutes of the session, but there was time enough to go even faster again before the chequered flag was unfurled. Marini likewise beat Marquez’s old Sachsenring benchmark, shuffling Miller back to third, albeit only at 0.193 seconds off the pace of his team-mate.

Espargaro was fourth-fastest all-told, and he is the odd one out in a top six otherwise filled up by the GP22-model Desmosedici pilots. Johann Zarco claimed fifth on a 1:20.264 and Prima Pramac Racing team-mate Jorge Martin finished up sixth on a 1:20.275. Seventh went to World Championship leader Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) on a 1:20.399, ahead of Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) on yet another Ducati.

A heroic effort from Rins

Either side of the top 10 cut-off which decides who goes straight into Q2 and who does not, as it stands, is Joan Mir in 10th on a 1:20.574 and his Team Suzuki Ecstar team-mate Alex Rins in 11th on a 1:20.591. Rins is battling with a fractured wrist, and only completed half of FP1 after a crash at Turn 1, but was as high as third at the half-hour mark in FP2. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) was first of the Honda riders, in 12th on a 1:20.616, while Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) took 13th at another 0.131 seconds off the pace after an early run through the gravel at Turn 1.

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Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) took 14th, ahead of Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™), Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team), and the first of the KTM contingent in Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), in 17th.

They will, of course, all be looking to improve their positions and book a place in Q2 when FP3 unfolds on Saturday. Can they do it? The answers will come from 09:55 (GMT +2).

MotoGP™ Top 10 on Friday:
1. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) – 1:20.018
2. Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.115
3. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.193
4. Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) + 0.201
5. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.246
6. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) + 0.257
7. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) + 0.381
8. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) + 0.460
9. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) + 0.527
10. Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.556

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