Second practice was good fun. On a track with damp patches and a threat of rain they were going for Q2 times right from the start, excellent stuff. If anyone hasn't seen the result, riders straight through to Q2 are:
Max
1 Johann Zarco FRA Castrol Honda LCR (RC213V) 1'21.257s 6/7 336k
2 Marc Marquez SPA Ducati Lenovo (GP26) +0.125s 8/17 335k
3 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pramac Yamaha (YZR-M1)* +0.308s 16/16 330k
4 Jorge Martin SPA Aprilia Racing (RS-GP26) +0.309s 6/14 332k
5 Pedro Acosta SPA Red Bull KTM (RC16) +0.493s 10/15 331k
6 Alex Marquez SPA BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP26) +0.538s 15/16 336k
7 Fabio Quartararo FRA Monster Yamaha (YZR-M1) +0.568s 16/17 330k
8 Fermin Aldeguer SPA BK8 Gresini Ducati (GP25) +0.625s 13/13 327k
9 Francesco Bagnaia ITA Ducati Lenovo (GP26) +0.710s 8/15 334k
10 Ai Ogura JPN Trackhouse Aprilia (RS-GP26) +0.810s 11/17 333k
I suppose,as far as planning the year's calendar,there is more to logistics than I understand,but booking Brazil in the rainy season is a bit crap.
Good to see Toprak up there,even if it is a skewed result,he still had to put it there.
Skub wrote: Tue Mar 24, 2026 1:42 pm
Only just got to watch the action. Bit of a changing of the guard so far. Aldeguer rode great for someone with a recently broken femur.
I wonder wtf goes on with Bagnaia?
I think Austin will be a proper indicator of where we are in terms of comparative performance. If 'Priller can win there, then all bets are off for the rest of the season, especially as it's been Fortress MM93 for years now.
Bagnaia is not back to his championship-winning self yet (if he ever will be). If I were Aprilia and thinking of signing him for 2027 I'd be holding fire on the signature right now. Likewise with Vinales allegedly going to Facrory KTM.
I think we're getting to the point where there needs to be a wholesale clear-out. There are too many 'nearly men', 'has beens' and 'never beens' in MotoGP at present. Get some yoof in...
Yorick wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 10:04 pm
Just watched it all on catchup.
Why was main race reduced laps?
Heat. The earlier riders in Moto 3, but more so in the later Moto 2 race were struggling with the heat. A decision was made 4 minutes before the start to reduce the MotoGP to 23 laps. If you see pics of the state of the tarmac afterwards it was probably a good decision.
Yorick wrote: Fri Mar 27, 2026 10:04 pm
Just watched it all on catchup.
Why was main race reduced laps?
Heat. The earlier riders in Moto 3, but more so in the later Moto 2 race were struggling with the heat. A decision was made 4 minutes before the start to reduce the MotoGP to 23 laps. If you see pics of the state of the tarmac afterwards it was probably a good decision.
My understanding was that the race distance was reduced because of the track surface breaking up at one particular corner (which was possibly heat-related).
The original shortening of the race was down to the heat affecting the riders, I didn't hear anything about tarmac at that point. After the race pics appeared of dodgy tarmac when Marquez highlighted it.
Pirahna wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2026 2:16 pm
The original shortening of the race was down to the heat affecting the riders, I didn't hear anything about tarmac at that point. After the race pics appeared of dodgy tarmac when Marquez highlighted it.
I was just taking my cue from a lot of the commentary on Crash.net (not always the most reliable source, I grant you) regarding the reason for race distance shortening:
Pirahna wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2026 2:16 pm
The original shortening of the race was down to the heat affecting the riders, I didn't hear anything about tarmac at that point. After the race pics appeared of dodgy tarmac when Marquez highlighted it.
I was just taking my cue from a lot of the commentary on Crash.net (not always the most reliable source, I grant you) regarding the reason for race distance shortening:
I've just re-watched the few minutes before the start, there was a lot of chat about the heat which is what I obviously picked up on. There's also plenty said about about track degradation including a banner at the top of the screen. Fuck knows what I was doing, probably making a tea and not listening properly.