Valencia MotoGP, Circuit Ricardo Tormo - Free Practice (4) Results

Free Practice (4) results from the Valencia MotoGP at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, the 18th and final round of the 2021 world championship.
Takaaki Nakagami , Valencia MotoGP, 13 November 2021
Takaaki Nakagami , Valencia MotoGP, 13 November 2021
© Gold and Goose Photography

Takaaki Nakagami gives Honda a much needed boost by leading final practice for the 2021 Valencia MotoGP season finale.

Pol Espargaro, Repsol Honda's only rider this weekend after the withdraw of Marc Marquez and second fastest on Friday, will miss the remainder of the afternoon (and is clearly in doubt for Sunday) after this morning's huge Turn 13 highside, which left the Spaniard with pain in his ribs.

Meanwhile,  a tough time in previous sessions, where he was no higher than ninth, new world champion Fabio Quartararo sprung up the order to lead for much of FP4, on the hard front and medium rear tyre on his way to second.

Suzuki's Alex Rins was likewise consistently quick for third, ahead of Francesco Bagnaia and Franco Morbidelli .

Morning pace setter Aleix Espargaro slide off at the Turn 2 hairpin and could only manage 12th, albeit less than half-a-second from Nakagami!

Valentino Rossi, who has secured direct access to his final Qualifying 2 appearance, was 17th and one of the few riders to spend a lot of time on the hard rear tyre (along with Jorge Martin, Brad Binder and Jack Miller)

Qualifying 1, for those outside the top ten after third free practice, will now get underway.

Rossi's legendary MotoGP career reaches its conclusion this weekend as the nine-time world champion bows out of the sport after 26 years in grand prix racing. It's also the last grand prix for Danilo Petrucci (switching to the Dakar) and Iker Lecuona (moving to WorldSBK).

Marc Marquez will finish the season where he started it, on the sidelines, missing his second event in a row due to vision problems triggered by a training accident. The Repsol Honda star won't be back on a MotoGP bike until 2022.

While the riders' (Fabio Quartararo) and constructors' (Ducati) world championship have already been decided, Ducati Lenovo holds a 28-point lead (maximum of 45 points still available) over Monster Yamaha for the teams' title…

Valencia MotoGP, Circuit Ricardo Tormo - Free Practice (4) Results
PosRiderNatTeamTime/DiffLapMax
1Takaaki NakagamiJPNLCR Honda (RC213V)1'31.208s13/18327k
2Fabio QuartararoFRAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.069s5/16318k
3Alex RinsSPASuzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)+0.130s5/13320k
4Francesco BagnaiaITADucati Team (GP21)+0.169s15/16324k
5Franco MorbidelliITAMonster Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.179s6/12315k
6Joan MirSPASuzuki Ecstar (GSX-RR)+0.288s9/14318k
7Alex MarquezSPALCR Honda (RC213V)+0.292s6/16327k
8Miguel OliveiraPORRed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.298s4/15323k
9Jorge MartinSPAPramac Ducati (GP21)*+0.315s5/15323k
10Maverick ViñalesSPAAprilia Gresini (RS-GP)+0.321s14/17323k
11Brad BinderRSARed Bull KTM (RC16)+0.423s14/15326k
12Aleix EspargaroSPAAprilia Gresini (RS-GP)+0.497s9/13321k
13Danilo PetrucciITAKTM Tech3 (RC16)+0.504s4/13315k
14Johann ZarcoFRAPramac Ducati (GP21)+0.550s6/15327k
15Jack MillerAUSDucati Team (GP21)+0.555s17/18329k
16Luca MariniITASky VR46 Avintia Ducati (GP19)*+0.567s8/10324k
17Valentino RossiITAPetronas Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.609s7/16320k
18Andrea DoviziosoITAPetronas Yamaha (YZR-M1)+0.644s5/16317k
19Iker LecuonaSPAKTM Tech3 (RC16)+0.743s12/14335k
20Enea BastianiniITAAvintia Ducati (GP19)*+0.823s12/15324k
 Pol EspargaroSPARepsol Honda (RC213V)No Time0/00

* Rookie
Official Valencia MotoGP records:
Best lap:
Marc Marquez SPA Honda 1m 31.116s (2019)
Fastest race lap:
Jorge Lorenzo SPA Yamaha 1m 29.401s (2016)

By Peter McLaren

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