One day after announcing he is to leave the Ecstar Suzuki team, “The Maniac” Italian Andrea Iannone had an emphatic response to his sacking – setting fastest time in both morning and afternoon sessions in an eventful first day at Mugello for his home GP.
Iannone, who crashed out of the last race on the first lap, was less than half a second off his own best lap time at the spectacular, sweeping 5.245-km circuit in the shadow of the Apennine mountains.
Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha) was second-fastest, both displacing long-time session leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda) in the final flurry.
Both Vinales and Marquez had fallen on the first day without injury.
The high drama came from Ducati, however, with lead rider Andrea Dovizioso setting a new top speed record of 221.7 mph on the long Mugello straight, shortly after suffering a fiery engine blow-up at the same place, bringing out the red flags.
By then, however, the session had already been stopped once, after Ducati test rider and wild card entry Michele Pirro had a massive crash at the same point – see separate News story.
Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha) also came up in the closing stages as, knocking the flying Jack Miller (Alma Pramac Ducati) to fifth, with Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) sixth.
Times were close among these riders, with Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha) just a hundredth slower in seventh, although seven tenths off Iannone’s top time.
Franco Morbidelli (VDS Honda) was a close eighth, top rookie; with Danilo Petrucci (Alma Pramac Ducati) and Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati) completing the top ten.
Should times not drop tomorrow morning, this top ten will go straight through to Q2. Although continued dry weather is forecast, cooler conditions in the morning meant that all riders except Pirro (second this morning) were faster in the afternoon, Iannone by more than half a second and others by even more.
Moto2
Man of the moment Joan Mir underlined his growing status by topping the time-sheets in Moto2, the Marc VDS Kalex rookie within a tenth of the race lap record, and more than a tenth clear of Sam Lowes, on the SII KTM.
The reigning Moto3 champion, fresh from a first Moto2 podium at Le Mans, had a best qualification of fourth at the French track.
Championship leader Pecco Bagnaia (SKY V46 Kalex) was third fastest.
Last year’s Mugello winner Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Kalex) placed a close fourth, three hundredths slower: then race-winner Lorenzo Baldassarri (HP40 Kalex) from rookie Romano Fenati (Marinelli Kalex).
Luca Marini, Andrea Locatelli (both Kalex), Fabio Quartararo (Speed Up) and Alex Marquez (Kalex) completed the top ten. Marquez had been fastest in the morning, but was the only rider in the top 20 not to improve in the afternoon.
The top 17 were within one second.
Moto3
Times were relatively spread in Moto3, known for ultra-close race results here, but with just 13 inside the first second.
Top of the lists, once again Jorge Martin (Del Conca Honda), with a margin of better than three tenths over Aron Canet (EG Honda); with another Honda – ridden by SIC58 rider Tatsuki Suzuki – in third.
But the KTMs are fighting back, with Jerez winner Philipp Oettl (Sudmetal Schedl team) and Argentine winner Marco Bezzecchi (Redox Pruestel) either side of Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia). Bezzecchi leads the championship from Honda’s Fabio Di Giannantonio, placed ninth behind the KTMs of Kornfeil and McPhee.
