Francesco Bagnaia clocked the fastest Friday time for MotoGP’s Italian Grand Prix at Mugello to head Suzuki rival Alex Rins.
The Ducati racer spent most of the session languishing in the bottom part of the top 10 as Miguel Oliviera paced the majority of running with an early banker for KTM.
Rins was the man to finally bump Oliveira from the head of the times with a 1:46.218s and Fabio Quartararo came closest to denying the Spaniard before he had to roll out from his lap after catching slower traffic ahead.
Bagnaia, though, had designs of leading the way at his home event at the conclusion of Friday running as the 2018 Moto2 world champion duly fired in a time 0.071s clear of Rins to claim FP2 honours.
Rins held into second overall, just ahead of Franco Morbidelli, who posted a late improvement to bag third for Petronas SRT.
Quartararo classified fourth but his time, just a tenth-and-a-half off Bagnaia, was eye-catching on account of already having completed three flying laps on the tyres.
Brad Binder led KTM’s charge in an impressive fifth just ahead of team-mate Oliveira on what was an encouraging day for the Austrian marque following a tricky start to the year; LCR Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami slotted into seventh with his own late improvement.
FP1 leader Vinales ended Friday eighth, ahead of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro, while Jack Miller rounded out the top 10 on the second factory Ducati machine as he chases a third successive victory.
Several big names missed out on the provisional automatic Q2 cut as Friday came to a close.
Johann Zarco was 11th for Pramac, ahead of reigning World Champion Joan Mir, who was unable to match team-mate Rins’ speed.
Marc Marquez was left down in 13th, albeit ahead of Repsol Honda team-mate Pol Espargaro, while Valentino Rossi had a lacklustre day.
Rossi was 21st of the 22 runners, in front only of KTM’s Iker Lecuona, as he suffered two off-track excursions at San Donato during the session.
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Km/h | Time | Gap / Int |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Ducati Lenovo Team | 354.0 | 1’46.147 | |
| 2 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 352.9 | 1’46.218 | 0.071 / 0.071 |
| 3 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 339.6 | 1’46.331 | 0.184 / 0.113 |
| 4 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 349.5 | 1’46.372 | 0.225 / 0.041 |
| 5 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 355.2 | 1’46.436 | 0.289 / 0.064 |
| 6 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 356.4 | 1’46.584 | 0.437 / 0.148 |
| 7 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 351.7 | 1’46.593 | 0.446 / 0.009 |
| 8 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 350.6 | 1’46.655 | 0.508 / 0.062 |
| 9 | Jack MILLER | Ducati Lenovo Team | 355.2 | 1’46.688 | 0.541 / 0.033 |
| 10 | Johann ZARCO | Pramac Racing | 352.9 | 1’46.840 | 0.693 / 0.152 |
| 11 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 351.7 | 1’46.847 | 0.700 / 0.007 |
| 12 | Marc MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 349.5 | 1’46.973 | 0.826 / 0.126 |
| 13 | Pol ESPARGARO | Repsol Honda Team | 351.7 | 1’46.986 | 0.839 / 0.013 |
| 14 | Michele PIRRO | Pramac Racing | 357.6 | 1’47.107 | 0.960 / 0.121 |
| 15 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing | 350.6 | 1’47.129 | 0.982 / 0.022 |
| 16 | Luca MARINI | SKY VR46 Avintia | 348.3 | 1’47.154 | 1.007 / 0.025 |
| 17 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 349.5 | 1’47.195 | 1.048 / 0.041 |
| 18 | Alex MARQUEZ | LCR Honda CASTROL | 351.7 | 1’47.326 | 1.179 / 0.131 |
| 19 | Enea BASTIANINI | Avintia Esponsorama | 351.7 | 1’47.480 | 1.333 / 0.154 |
| 20 | Lorenzo SAVADORI | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 345.0 | 1’47.668 | 1.521 / 0.188 |
| 21 | Valentino ROSSI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 347.2 | 1’47.719 | 1.572 / 0.051 |
| 22 | Iker LECUONA | Tech 3 KTM Factory Racing | 351.7 | 1’47.792 | 1.645 / 0.073 |
