Jack Miller beats Pol Espargaró by 0.012 seconds in FP2 in Valencia

Jack Miller set the fastest time in the second free practice session for the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana. Thanks to the dry track, the afternoon session was the fastest of the first day on Ricardo Tormo’s track.

At the beginning of the session the track was dry, but still cold and with little grip. Pol Espargaró (Repsol Honda) was leading with 0.802 seconds ahead of Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati). The times were already faster than in the morning because the track was dry. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda) was the next man in the lead, 0.404 seconds ahead of Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha) after the second lap.

The Italian then moved up to the front while Jack Miller (Ducati) finished second, 0.091 seconds back. Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha) crashed into turn two 37 minutes before the end without any consequences other than lost working hours.

Moments earlier, Pol Espargaró had dethroned Morbidelli by 0.127 seconds. Minutes later, Bagnaia was only 88 thousandths ahead of Pol Espargaró and after about a quarter of an hour most of the drivers returned to the pits. Back then, Bagnaia had improved his time to extend his advantage over Pol Espargaró.

When the drivers returned to the track in the first half of FP2, Morbidelli was back in command and dethroned Bagnaia by 0.416 seconds. Álex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), who finished second at the time, slipped to third place. After Nakagami briefly moved up to second place, Miller took up the chase for Morbidelli, staying on the grid until the Australian overtook his rival by 0.423 seconds five minutes from time.

Ducati turns up the heat! 💪 @ jackmilleraus jumps all the way to the top on a soft rear tire! #ValenciaGP pic.twitter.com/JwSv6DTeQD

– MotoGP 🏁 (@MotoGP) November 12, 2021

A little later Andrea Dovizioso (Petronas Yamaha SRT) surprised and finished second, 0.188 seconds behind Miller, before both were beaten by Bagnaia.

The times have steadily decreased in the last few minutes, with several changes in leadership. Pol Espargaró and Bagnaia were back on top but there was still room for improvement. Miller was leading again, 12 thousandths ahead of Pol Espargaró, who had improved and then fell. Bagnaia finished third with 0.068 seconds, the last of those who entered the 1:30. Rins and Jorge Martín (Pramac / Ducati) completed the top 5.

This was followed by Nakagami, Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM), Dovizioso and Johann Zarco (Pramac / Ducati), all of whom entered the second half of the top ten with a provisional direct entry into Q2 – that session was much faster than FP1 and sets the combined timesheet. Quartararo was 11th at 0.105s ahead of Zarco. Valentino Rossi (Petronas Yamaha SRT) completed the top ten.

Combined free training times:

Credits: © DORNA, 2021