In 1 min 37 sec 071/1000, Quartararo beat the Italian Enea Bastianini (Ducati-Gresini) by 201/1000 and another Italian, Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) by 212/1000.
"El Diablo" -- only fifth at the end of the first practice session run earlier in the morning and during which he crashed -- was of exemplary consistency in the second session, remaining close to the best time before reminding his competitors of his talents which took him to the top of the world last year.
"I hope that if turn 8 is not dry tomorrow, someone (from the organization, editor's note) will come and dry it because a trace of humidity in this place is very dangerous", he said. he otherwise warned.
In the morning, the pilot had skidded on a patch of humidity on the track, watered by a storm the previous evening, but almost dry at the time of his fall.
The images broadcast live also showed the pilot in pain while getting back on his motorcycle, but the latter explained that he had "nothing after the fall, I hurt myself by hitting the tank when getting back on the motorcycle " .
If Quartararo, after his victory in Portugal last week, currently occupies the lead of the world championship on equal points (69) with the Spaniard Alex Rins (Suzuki), he knows that behind him, the competition is very real.
"Everyone is very fast in Jerez and I have a knife to my throat every time I go out," he said.
Fabio Quartararo during the tests of the Spanish GP of MotoGP, April 29, 2022 in Jerez de la Frontera JORGE GUERRERO AFP
Far behind him, Spaniard Marc Marquez (Honda), six-time MotoGP world champion, also crashed during the second session of practice, twice in the same lap.
This misadventure places him in a modest 19th place.
Among the disappointed of the day are also the Frenchman Johann Zarco (Ducati, 11th), Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia 13th), or even Alex Rins, the co-leader of the championship (Suzuki, 8th).
© 2022 AFP