The pilots who managed to qualify for Q2 have been found: Franco Morbidelli, yes, you read that right, and Brad Binder.
It was all or nothing with the rain falling in Jerez, in the fight for Q2, with names like Brad Binder, Jack Miller, Dani Pedrosa, Fabio Quartararo, Johann Zarco or Miguel Oliveira. The Australian from KTM seemed to be having trouble getting out on the track, with the team struggling to put the rear wheel on his KTM RC16.
It was precisely the South African who appeared first for now with a lap in 1:49.11s, 0.173s ahead of Franco Morbidelli but there were many riders with sectors in red. Many passed between the places that gave access to Q2, but provisionally, as Binder returned to the top and with Raúl Fernández placing himself next to #33, hinting at passage to the next qualifying session. Miguel Oliveira, especially in these conditions, was 0.109s behind his teammate and in third in the session.
After some riders made the usual pit stop, Pedrosa in his fifth lap set the second fastest time, placing himself 0.073s from the top.
It didn’t take long for the usual suspect in the rain to make his move, Oliveira jumped to the top of the session but… for a short time: Morbidelli, in great form, was the first to enter the second 47! – 1:47.887s – a difference of 0.531s from the time of the Portuguese rider.
And as expected, the changes did not stop here: Brad Binder returned to the attack and reached second place in the session, also in the second 47.
In the last seconds, Zarco reached third place but until the end no one else managed to beat the front duo, led by Morbidelli.
Jack Miller did manage to ride but due to the time he lost in the garage, he only managed to ride with the same set of tires and fell short of what he knows how to do in these conditions.
