It may have rained yesterday, it will be colder than two weeks ago, but the verdict of Friday at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is that the “usual” four are still in front, those who occupy the same positions in the MotoGP world standings. Standing out in the afternoon session, which designated the ten who will have direct access to tomorrow morning’s Q2, was Pecco Bagnaia, who set a new record for the Misano track.
Despite having to deal with a track that certainly did not yet offer optimal grip, the reigning world champion got down to 1’30″286, touching up the time with which he had obtained pole position two weeks ago. The Piedmontese made a big difference and this is demonstrated by the gap of just under two tenths he put on the world championship leader Jorge Martin, who ended his day in the gravel of the escape route of turn 8 following a crash without consequences.
After having a small problem with one of his two GP23s at the start of the session, Marc Marquez made a great recovery in the final part, moving into third place for the Gresini Racing team with a time of 1’30″585. The poker of heads was then completed by Enea Bastianini, who perhaps could have done even better than his 1’30″607 if he hadn’t had a crash at turn 14 towards the end.
The bright spot of the day is without a doubt Fabio Quartararo, because in this session he managed to make Yamaha the second force behind Ducati. Evidently, the innovations introduced on the M1 are starting to bear fruit and “El Diablo” placed fifth at six tenths. His teammate Alex Rins, on the other hand, was missing from the roll call, forced to stop due to a violent attack of flu.
After returning to the podium in the Sprint of the last race, Franco Morbidelli confirmed his speed again today, finishing with the sixth time with his Ducati of Prima Pramac Racing. Marco Bezzecchi’s progress also seems consolidated, author of the seventh time with the GP23 of Pertamina Enduro VR46. Therefore, there are six Desmosedici GPs in the first seven positions.
Among those qualified for Q2 there is also room for the two Aprilias of Maverick Vinales and Aleix Espargaro, eighth and tenth respectively, who therefore seem to have made a step forward thanks to last week’s test, even if the gap of over seven tenths is still quite a bit. Between them, in ninth position, is the KTM of Pedro Acosta, who also slipped at turn 14. Among other things, the rookie debuted a new aerodynamic package for the RC16.
The first of the outcasts was Jack Miller, who preceded Johann Zarco, who was therefore the best of the Honda riders with the 12th time at just under a second. And the Frenchman of the LCR Team is working with the aerodynamic package that was introduced in the test last week.
Unfortunately, Fabio Di Giannantonio was the victim of a bad fall at turn 10: the Pertamina Enduro VR46 rider finished with the 13th fastest time, but his left shoulder appeared to be in rather painful pain and he returned to the team truck escorted by Dr. Angel Charte, the championship’s medical director.
Among those excluded are also Alex Marquez and Brad Binder, who fell at turn 1 and turn 5 respectively. Miguel Oliveira is also out, slowed down by a technical problem with his Trackhouse Racing Aprilia. You have to go down to 19th place to find Luca Marini, who with his Honda precedes his teammate Joan Mir and Augusto Fernandez, who also ended up in the long list of riders who have tasted the escape routes of the Romagna track.
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