MotoGP Race And Practice Results

A dark grey sky set the stage for the lightweight class qualifying sessions but apart from some drizzle in Q1, the clouds didn’t bother the rest of the proceedings and the track was fully dry as Q2 got underway. The changing conditions allowed Darryn Binder to shine, the South African sneaking out of Q1 and that proved to be an advantage as he went on to secure a maiden pole position with an all time lap record. He will be joined on the front row by teammates Kaito Toba and Raul Fernandez, the Japanese rider missing out on pole by four hundredths of a second.

Jaume Masia opens the second row of the grid from Andrea Migno, the Italian’s late charge pushing back the main title contenders. Albert Arenas had a bit of an adventure in getting out of Q1 but braving the drizzle on slicks paid off as he led the first qualifying session and climbed up to sixth in the second one. That pushed rival Ai Ogura to the third row, after holding provisional pole on the first run, and the Japanese rider will have to fend off compatriot Tatsuki Suzuki and Celestino Vietti as they join him on row three.

Niccolo Antonelli heads the fourth row ahead of Deniz Oncu and Yuki Kunii, while Tony Arbolino could not replicate his form from Friday and had to make do with 13th on the grid. The Italian will have company from Romano Fenati and Jeremy Alcoba on the fifth row. Q1 escapees John McPhee and Riccardo Rossi sandwich home favourite Sergio Garcia on the sixth row, the Italian particularly impressive as he got through Q1 after crashing out early on, although he can expect a penalty after taking out Gabriel Rodrigo in the process. The Argentine was not able to rejoin the session and will have to start the race from the back of the grid, together with Carlos Tatay, who suffered two crashes in Q1.

Results:

After a rain shower shortened track time for the lightweight class, sun greeted the premier class but with track conditions still requiring rain tyres there were few takers early on. With the likes of Joan Mir and Fabio Quartararo out of the provisional top 10, they were particularly keen to see the conditions improved and the Frenchman was the first to be tempted by slick tyres 15 minutes into the session, quickly followed by the Spaniard. Some more rivals joined the party soon after and were steadily drawing nearer to Friday’s benchmark but it wasn’t until the final 13 minutes that the combined top 10 saw any changes, with Franco Morbidelli proving that there was enough time to be found on track. Morbidelli continued with a sensational pace and went fastest overall by almost half a second.

Behind the Italian, Pol Espargaro was second best on Saturday morning, while Johann Zarco joined the top three closely behind the Spaniard. Maverick Vinales also found some speed to head into Q2 in a more comfortable position in fourth, while Mir had to wait until his final flying lap to find his way into the top 5 of the session and into Q2 worthy places. Takaaki Nakagami in sixth place was one of the few men who did not improve on their Friday times but did not need to as the Honda man was safely inside the combined top 10. Jack Miller and Pecco Bagnaia were the other two men who relied on Friday times to sneak into Q2 despite missing out on the top 10 of the session. Two of the big winners of FP3 were Miguel Oliveira and Aleix Espargaro, who secured the final Q2 tickets after finishing 7th and 8th in the session.

With Mir saving his day at the last minute, his two main rivals dropped out of direct Q2 positions in the closing stages of FP3, Quartararo missing out by only two thousandths of a second, while Alex Rins was only fast enough for 15th overall. Andrea Dovizioso did not set a time until the final handful of minutes and failed to go any faster than on Friday, which left him down in 13th overall.

Meanwhile, Iker Lecuona's return to action didn’t work out as planned, with the Spaniard testing positive for Covid-19 and likely to miss the season finale as well.

Results:

The intermediate class closed the Friday show in Valencia but didn’t make that much of an impression on the combined timesheets, with the FP1 benchmark not being challenged. However, the gaps throughout the field on their second outing were minuscule, with Fabio Di Giannantonio claiming the top of the standings for the final time attack by less than a tenth of a second. Behind the Italian, the championship contenders kept in close proximity, Sam Lowes finishing second and only two hundredths of a second ahead of rival Enea Bastianini. The Italian had a less than ideal start to his session with a tumble at turn six but then recovered to join the top three.

Bo Bendsneyder and Marcel Schrotter made some good progress inside the top five, ahead of an equally impressive sixth spot for Stefano Manzi. They were closely followed by Jorge Martin and Luca Marini, who were only two tenths off the leader, while Jorge Navarro kept top spot overall, despite dropping to ninth in the session. Joe Roberts rounded out the top 10 of FP2, although the American will need to find some speed to join the Q2 line-up on Saturday morning.

Although missing out on top 10 positions in the session, the likes of Hector Garzo, Aron Canet, Marco Bezzecchi, Tom Luthi and Lorenzo Baldassarri are provisionally in the combined top 14. Remy Gardner, Augusto Fernandez and Xavi Vierge might have closed the top 20, but the trio were only half a second off top spot.

Results:

After the rush of speed in the morning session, FP2 was a more sedate affair, riders leaving it to the final five minutes to improve their times from FP1. Niccolo Antonelli led for most of the session, until the time attack, when the Italian was robbed by Jaume Masia and Sergio Garcia, the Spaniards only separated by one hundredth of a second at the front. Antonelli stayed in the top three of the session, although none of those men managed to improve Tony Arbolino’s record breaking time from FP1.

Tatsuki Suzuki in fourth position was also within a tenth of the leader, ahead of Raul Fernandez and championship contender Ai Ogura. Romano Fenati was seventh in the session and one of the few men not to improve on their morning benchmarks. Celestino Vietti, Jeremy Alcoba and Yuki Kunii rounded out the top ten, only two tenths off top spot.

On the combined standings, Kaito Toba, Andrea Migno, Deniz Oncu and Tony Arbolino are holding onto Q2 tickets at the end of Friday, with the Snipers rider still fastest overall despite the being 20th in the session.

Meanwhile, Filip Salac was declared unfit to continue his weekend in Valencia due to a chest injury after a crash at turn 6 in the morning session.

Results: