Jack Miller tops day one at Valencia in mixed conditions

2021 MotoGP – Round 18 – Valencia
Friday Practice Quotes/Notes/Times

It was a close Day 1 at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana, with Ducati vs Honda at the top and Jack Miller (Ducati Lenovo Team) taking final honours by the end of play.

FP1 was wet before the sun came out in the afternoon and created a frenetic mini-qualifying session, leaving Miller, Pol Espargaro (Repsol Honda Team) in second and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) in third covered by just 0.068.

You could split the top trio of Miller, Pol and Pecco with a tyre blanket, but then there’s 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.

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.

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.

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 on Saturday…

MotoGP Rider Quotes

Jack Miller – P1

“I’m delighted with this first day here at Valencia, which is one of my favourite tracks on the calendar! The bike is working really well here, and both in the wet this morning and the dry this afternoon, I felt comfortable straight away. I had a small crash in FP1: I went wide in the first corner, but as soon as I touched the paint, it was like hitting the ice! Apart from that, I’m enjoying riding here, and I can’t wait to see what the rest of the weekend has in store for us”.

Pol Espargaro – P2

“We have had a good day today. It started in the wet and I took it a little easy because you can end your weekend in the first session if you’re not careful. In the afternoon I was feeling confident on used medium tyres. Overall it was a good second session apart from the small crash we had, but I thought something like this might happen because I was pushing a lot. The track was not in the best condition because of the rain so we have to keep working overnight to raise our level for Qualifying. It’s a good start to the weekend and I want to give the Spanish fans in the stands something to cheer about.”

Francesco Bagnaia – P3

“It was my best Friday ever here in Valencia, so I’m very happy. I felt good on the bike straight away, and we already have a clear idea of what we need to change to improve further. This morning in the wet, I crashed at Turn 2, a place where I crash every year, but then I quickly found my rhythm again. Even this afternoon in the dry, although the conditions were not easy because of the little grip and the wet patches, we were very fast. I’m satisfied and ready for our last qualifying session of the season tomorrow”.

Alex Rins – P4

“My first day here in Valencia wasn’t so bad, it’s a shame that FP1 was wet because it was almost like a wasted session – the forecasts say we won’t get any more rain this weekend. But you know, you have to tackle each session as it comes. In FP2 I had pretty good pace and we made a good step today. Let’s try to get the best set-up for tomorrow and attack for qualifying.”

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Jorge Martín – P5

“I am very happy with this first day of free practice sessions. It’s a track where I am comfortable and have a lot of fun. I am very motivated and I know that we can do very well here.”

Takaaki Nakagami – P6

“We had a good start today in both sessions, FP1 and FP2. It was different conditions, wet in FP1 and dry in FP2, in both sessions we were able to stay in the top 10, especially FP2 when we had quite consistent lap times and good pace. I’m quite happy about today, although we still need to improve the braking stability, but that was the only main issue really. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow morning’s session and qualifying and our target is to get a first or second row place in qualifying.”

Joan Mir – P7

“It was a positive day for us, trying two different conditions. This morning I felt great in the wet and I was able to build up a good performance from the beginning, so I was pretty happy with that. Then in the afternoon I still had some work to do with the dry set-up; I didn’t feel fully confident. But the base is fine, so I feel quite optimistic for tomorrow. Let’s see what we can do, I’m looking forward to it.”

Andrea Dovizioso – P9

“Today isn’t important but I’m still happy to be inside the top-ten. From the start I had a good feeling and I was able to do a good lap time. I don’t think every rider showed their true pace, especially as the conditions were tricky, but overall it has been better today. Let’s see what happens tomorrow when everyone is pushing at 100%. Everything is new for me at each track, but I think this one is okay for our bike. However to have good speed is one thing, to be consistent for a whole race is another matter. Tomorrow it will be important to try to be in Q2, but also to work on our race pace.”

Johann Zarco – P10

“This morning it was very cold and it was raining. It wasn’t easily to acquire the right feeling on the track. In the evening on the asphalt I set the tenth-best time, but I am satisfied. We have worked well. We need to be able to take a small step forwards.”

Fabio Quartararo – P11

“I felt bad on the bike today. In the morning we know why that happened, but in the afternoon I had the same lack of feeling. I‘m looking forward to the meeting with the team to see what caused it and then solve it. In Portimão it was a race weekend in which we made a bad qualifying and struggled a lot because of it. But it‘s been a while since I struggled on a Friday. I think it was last year in Portimão. It‘s pretty strange, and I hope we can change it for tomorrow.”

Aleix Espargaro – P12

“Unfortunately, we’re struggling at the beginning of this weekend too. The conditions definitely didn’t help us because we struggle to get the tyres up to temp and that prevents us from having grip. We’re working on it. Tomorrow we plan to make a substantial change to the bike’s geometry, precisely to try to find more grip, which is what has been limiting us in the last few races.”

Franco Morbidelli – P13

“It was a good day. I was able to be decently fast on wet as well as on dry. I also had a good feeling on used tyres, and I had good speed. And this is positive, we should keep going like this. The team is on the right path since we started working. It‘s a while already, but we are getting there step by step. And today I felt good on the bike, the best I‘ve ever felt. That‘s a positive thing. It means that the team is working well. It is also important to be fast with used tyres, because lately I‘ve been fast with new tyres but not that much on used tyres and in the race. But we‘re on the right path.”

Álex Márquez – P14

“It was a surprise for the whole team this morning that we had heavy rain, so we just took it quite easy, tried a few things that we had on plan for wet conditions and didn’t take too many risks as we knew that this afternoon and tomorrow would be dry. This afternoon in the dry I was feeling really good from the beginning and was in the top seven or eight all the time as we tried something new on the bike that worked well. Unfortunately, in the last time attack I touched the green, so track limits and my flying lap that was P8 or P9 disappeared, but that’s how it is. Tomorrow we need to be focused because we had good rhythm and pace, we just need to adjust a few details.”

Danilo Petrucci – P15

“Unfortunately, I suffered a heavy crash this morning and got hurt quite a bit. The good thing is, that I felt better in the afternoon and I was able to ride. Overall, FP2 was not bad. It was like the first session of the weekend. The track was not in a perfect condition, but I felt ok with the bike. For sure, we have to solve some small issues with the setup, but I’m quite confident. We are all really close to each other, so I think we can do a decent Qualifying tomorrow.”

Iker Lecuona – P16

“This morning, I felt very strong in the wet and I was even first! In the afternoon, the conditions have been rather mixed and I struggled a lot with the electronics and with the bike in general. We couldn’t find a good base, so we still have to adjust a lot. We need to work on that in order to improve and to do a step forward tomorrow morning.”

Maverick Vinales – P18

“The weather conditioned our day today. This morning was not a simple one in the wet and even in the afternoon, the grip wasn’t the best. Valencia is a track where you can learn a lot and we need that as we continue to grow with this new bike. Hopefully the conditions will be a bit more stable tomorrow so we’ll be able to keep working and trying to take a step forward.”

Enea Bastianini – P19

“I’m not happy. This morning with the rain it didn’t go too well and in the afternoon I crashed, in general I didn’t feel very confident. Anyway, we will focus on doing a good job tomorrow in the third free practice and get a good qualifying position.”

Luca Marini – P20

“It was not an easy Friday. The grip was probably the most difficult aspect to handle. I have to get used to this kind of conditions, but the gap to the group is not big and tomorrow we can get closer. We will work again in FP3 and try the hard front tyre.”

Valentino Rossi – P21

“It was a difficult Friday because the conditions were quite bad. This morning it was very cold and there was a lot of water on track. Fortunately this afternoon was fairly dry, but there were still some damp patches and that made it a bit dangerous, especially with these temperatures. The layout of this track makes it very difficult and I think it might be the most difficult track for me. The place is great though with all the fans and it’s always a good atmosphere. I didn’t feel fantastic with the tyres and we didn’t have a lot of grip. It’s just the first day though, so we have to do some work. I hope that it remains dry, that the track improves and that we can improve the setup of the bike.”

MotoGP Combined Times

Moto2

Day 1 of the Moto2 title-deciding weekend is done and dusted, and it’s just 0.008s between World Championship leader Remy Gardner and Red Bull KTM Ajo team-mate Raul Fernandez, his sole remaining challenger for the crown.

In a dry afternoon at the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana, the Australian’s best was a 1:35.857, with his team-mate that close second and Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) keeping the top three tight as the number 37 ended Friday just 0.041s off the top too.

With the sun coming out in the afternoon, it’s FP2 that sets the pace. Gardner leads the way ahead of Fernandez R, with Fernandez A third. Vietti and Vierge complete that top five.

Just behind, Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) set his fastest lap on his last flyer, the British rider sixth on Friday, just ahead of Stefano Manzi (Flexbox HP40).

MotoGP-bound Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) ended his final Moto2 Free Practice Friday in eighth, 0.304s away from P1, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) – also MotoGP-bound – and Marcos Ramirez (American Racing) completing the top 10.

Moto2 Combined Times

Moto3

Reigning FIM Moto3 Junior World Champion Izan Guevara (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) topped FP1 with a 1:39.561, and after the rain came down and no one was also to improve in FP2 either, which ensured the Texas winner is the fastest man on Friday. It wasn’t by much though, with Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) just 0.048s further back.

Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) completed the top three as the final race weekend of the season fires into life, the veteran Italian on form once again.  Salač fourth and Acosta fifth.

Yuki Kunii (Honda Team Asia) put in a good morning stint in P6, ahead of Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Valencia specialist Sergio Garcia (Valresa GASGAS Aspar Team) and John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing).

Moto3 Combined Times

Comunitat Valenciana-Ricardo Tormo Schedule (AEST)

MotoGP Championship Standings

Constructor Standings

Team Standings

2021 FIM MotoGP World Championship calendar