by Dimitris Diatsidis
ADVERTISING SPACE
Despite a narrow drop to one, the top three in the MotoGP title race head to the top of Friday’s timesheets as Bastianini keeps in close touch.
After a slower start to Free Trials 1 at the Gran Premio Pramac dell’Emilia-Romagna due to damp in the morning, the sun shone in the MotoGP Trials in the afternoon and it was some of the brightest stars of 2024 who took to the fore, with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) to be in control.
ADVERTISING SPACE
Bagnaia set a new all-time lap record at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli – 1:30.286 – beating World Championship leader Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) by 0.198s, with the No.89 unable to look for an improvement after a slight drop at Turn 8. Round 13 winner Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) completed the top three, as the eight-time Champion sits 0.299 seconds behind Pecco.
Having suffered from a fever during the morning, Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team) unfortunately did not participate in the Emilia-Romagna Tests, which started with Martin and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) strongly. The latter – pushing hard – then lost the front at Turn 14, before Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP) slipped at Turn 1.
The action – as usual – started in the last 20 minutes of the day. Martin was as quick as ever on the soft Michelin rear tire, but had his best time at the yellow flags for a fall of Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3).
Bagnaia then began to build some momentum to move up to 1st, before Martin’s Tests ended prematurely while close to teammate Franco Morbidelli. Marc Marquez and Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) ensured they would finish towards the top as the Italian became another rider who had a narrow gap at the end of the day.
Marc Marquez
However, this did not faze “The Beast” as he followed up the top three finishing the day in 4th. Performance of the day goes to the 5th placed rider – Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Team). The Frenchman wins back-to-back Qualifying 2 appearances for the first time this season after putting in an impressive display ahead of Morbidelli’s 6th and Marco Bezzecchi’s (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) 7th. The Italians will sleep easy knowing they don’t have to worry about Qualifying 1 on Saturday morning, as will Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing), Acosta and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing).
Bagnaia (1), Bezzecchi (72), Mir (36)
Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) was 0.050s back in 11th as CASTROL Honda LCR’s Johann Zarco ended Friday in a commendable 12th. The battling Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) had a nasty fall to end his bid for a top 10 finish, but the Italian will be determined on Saturday even in pain, while Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) crashed at Turn 5 to also see his Qualifier 2 promotion hopes end.
The title frontrunners will be vying for pole position honors on Saturday morning as a crucial day gets underway at Misano.
See the results in detail?
MotoGP_FP2-2
Source: www.zougla.gr
