News 3 Jun 2017

Crutchlow fastest in Friday MotoGP practice at Mugello

Miller 17th on the time-sheets at the end of day one.

Source: Supplied.

After Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team) led the way in FP1 under the sunny Tuscan skies of the Italian grand prix at Mugello, two-time GP winner Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) struck back in the afternoon to take to the top late in FP2, just heading Dovizioso by 0.029s on combined times.

German rookie Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) impressed to complete the top three. Another impressive performance as action opened in Italy saw Ducati test rider Michele Pirro end Friday in fourth with his time from FP1.

Pirro was just ahead of championship leader Maverick Viñales (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP). Viñales’ fastest was also from Friday morning to put him fifth on combined, despite suffering a big crash in the afternoon at Arrabiata 2. Johann Zarco (Monster Yamaha Tech 3) was another whose fastest was an FP1 effort, his best just 0.005s off Viñales to give the Frenchman P6 on day one.

Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda Team) improved in the afternoon from a more muted position in FP1 to go seventh, with Hector Barbera (Reale Avintia Racing) just behind the ‘Baby Samurai’ in some much improved form at the Italian GP. Alvaro Bautista (Pull&Bear Aspar Team) was ninth, with the top 10 completed by five-time world champion and five-time Mugello winner Jorge Lorenzo (Ducati Team).

Andrea Iannone (Team Suzuki Ecstar) and Danilo Petrucci took P11 and P12 respectively, with reigning champion Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) in 13th, just ahead of home hero Valentino Rossi (Movistar Yamaha MotoGP) as the nine-time world champion recovers from a motocross crash ahead of the event. Scott Redding (Octo Pramac Racing) completed the top 15 on Friday, with FP3 the next focus on Saturday morning as graduation to Q2 is decided.

Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) hit back against FP1’s fastest, teammate Franco Morbidelli, going fastest in FP2 to top combined practice times on day one from fellow title hopeful Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia). Morbidelli completed the top three with his time from FP1.

Veteran Italians Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) and Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) gave the home crowd more to cheer about as they completed the top five, ahead of a familiar name as the fastest rookie, Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46).

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) made his return to the Moto2 fold in style as he came back from a recurring arm injury to take seventh on Friday, just heading teammate Miguel Oliveira well inside the top 10. Championship challenger Tom Lüthi (CarXpert Interwetten) was ninth fastest, with Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Racing Team) completing the top 10 after fighting for the win last year.

Luca Marini (Forward Racing Team) took P11 despite a crash in the morning, ahead of Fabio Quartararo (Pons HP 40), Yonny Hernandez (AGR Team), Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing) and Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP).

Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) was fastest on Friday in Moto3, heading the time-sheets from compatriots Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Aspar Mahindra Moto3). The Mahindra rider was a standout performer on day one, with solid showings in both sessions.

British Talent Team rider John McPhee was back in the mix in fourth after briefly leading the way in FP2, with key rivals in the points standings Joan Mir (Leopard Racing) and Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) completing the top six.

Juanfran Guevara continued his impressive 2017 pace in seventh on the combined time-sheets after also completing the top five in FP1, with the morning’s fastest Romano Fenati (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers) some hundredths quicker in the afternoon to end the day in P8 overall. Estrella Galicia 0,0 pairing Aron Canet and Enea Bastianini completed the top 10.

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