Espargaro won both the sprint and the grand prix at Barcelona last year, and ended Friday for the 2024 event 0.072 seconds clear of KTM’s Brad Binder after the South African suffered a pair of falls in the second session.
For the second round in succession, six-time MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez will have to go through the Q1 qualifying session after failing to do better than 12th in second practice.
Pedro Acosta was third on his Tech3 GasGas from reigning world champion Francesco Bagnaia, while Jack Miller (KTM) and points leader Jorge Martin (Pramac) rounded out the top six.
Conditions had brightened from the morning session for the hour-long second practice, with KTM’s Miller setting the initial pace at 1m40.153s.
Top spot changed hands several times over the opening 10 minutes, with Miller emerging the best of the lot with a 1m39.212s.
That would stand as the benchmark until the session clicked into its final 20 minutes, as Aprilia’s Maverick Vinales moved slightly clear with a 1m39.184s – which he subsequently improved to a 1m39.121s.
With 15 minutes to go, Espargaro fired in a 1m39.031s, though it was only a moment before top spot had changed hands again. Pramac Ducati’s Martin dipped underneath the 1m39s bracket for the first time this weekend with a 1m38.879s, which he bettered to a 1m38.793s.
Martin’s time went unbothered as the session wound down, though with three minutes to go Espargaro produced a new lap record at 1m38.562s to move to the top of the order.
That would be enough for the Spaniard to see out Friday at his home grand prix fastest of all, while KTM’s Binder recovered to second late on after crashing both of his RC16s inside the first 20 minutes of the session. Acosta eased through to a direct Q2 qualifying spot in third, with Bagnaia, Miller and Martin rounding out the top six.
Franco Morbidelli was seventh on the sister Pramac Ducati, with Ducati’s Enea Bastianini, Yamaha’s Alex Rins and Vinales securing the final direct Q2 spots.
A crash late on at Turn 10 for Alex Marquez left him in 11th, with Gresini team-mate and older brother Marc Marquez 12th having been right behind him at the time of his fall.
But even with the yellow flag disruption at the end of the session, Marc Marquez’s final flying lap was not going to be good enough to move him into the top 10.
Fabio Quartararo, Yamaha Factory Racing
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
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