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Valencia GP: Miller fastest as its Ducati vs Honda on Day 1

The Australian set a 1.30.927 to beat second place Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) by 0.012s, with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) seeing the top three split by a mere 0.068sec.

Jack Miller

Bengaluru, November 13: It was a close Day 1 at the Valencia Grand Prix in Circuit Ricardo Tormo, with Ducati vs Honda at the top and Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) taking final honours by the end of the day.

The Australian set a 1.30.927 to beat second place Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) by 0.012s, with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) seeing the top three split by a mere 0.068s.

Newly-crowned MotoGP world champion Fabio Quartararo had a tricky day at the office in both wet and dry conditions in the season-ending race, which will also bring down curtains to MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi's career.

Grazie Vale! Every morning when I wake up I see the bike!Grazie Vale! Every morning when I wake up I see the bike!

The crash early in FP2 did not help his cause, and the Frenchman has work to do to grab an automatic Q2 place.

Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) and FP1 pacesetter Iker Lecuona (Tech3 KTM Factory Racing) crashed midway through the session, Turns 2 and 11 caught out the Italian and Spaniard.

With rain in the morning it is FP2 times that make the combined timesheets. You could split the top trio of Miller, Pol and Pecco with a tyre blanket, but then there is a bit of a gap to Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) in fourth. The Spaniard is 0.409s down on P1, while Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) rounded out the top five - also 0.4s shy.

Takaaki Nakagami had a solid opening day in P6, the Japanese rider just ahead of 2020 world champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) in seventh and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) in eighth.

Andrea Dovizioso slipped to P9 by the time FP2 had ended but a top 10 is a fantastic Friday result for the Italian as he cotninues to adapt to the 2019 M1. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) occupies P10 ahead of Saturday's action.

That starts at 9.55am local time (2.25pmIST), before the final qualifying of the season from 2.10pm local time (6.40pm IST).

Taking tumble

Taking tumble

Pol Espargaro was looking in good form before crashing on his final lap at Turn 6, rider ok, with Miller's penultimate lap handing the Australian P1 to prove the final decider.

As well as Quartararo and Pol Espargaro, Enea Bastianini (Avintia Esponsorama) and Lecuona also took tumbles.

Pecco leads the way

Pecco leads the way

With the track dry enough for slicks, FP2 was all action from the get-go. And just like Bagnaia did in the morning, Quartararo tucked the front at Turn 2.

It was Bagnaia who led the way in the early stages of FP2, but Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) moved the goalposts with just over 20 minutes remaining, a 1:31.832 the new benchmark.

Martin masterclass

Martin masterclass

Martin, who rounded off the top five was also the top Independent and top rookie rider.

The rain did stop in the afternoon and conditions improved towards the end of the session, which saw plenty of riders improve their times.

Grazie Vale!

Grazie Vale!

Pecco has six poles so far and Quartararo five... will that change in the season finale?

With Quartararo down in P11 after Friday, the Frenchman will be looking to bounce back strong in the morning as we now look forward to the final qualifying day of the 2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship, which will also be the final fiesta for The Doctor.

Top 10 combined:

1. Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) - 1:30.927
2. Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) + 0.012
3. Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) + 0.068
4. Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.409
5. Jorge Martin (Pramac Racing) + 0.469
6. Takaaki Nakagami (LCR Honda Idemitsu) + 0.500
7. Joan Mir (Tem Suzuki Ecstar) + 0.586
8. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) + 0.594
9. Andrea Dovizioso (Petronas Yamaha SRT) + 0.670
10. Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) + 0.676

(By a special arrangement with Dorna Sports)

Story first published: Saturday, November 13, 2021, 10:27 [IST]
Other articles published on Nov 13, 2021