Q1 at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley looks set to be an all-out brawl with Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP), Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati), Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team), Alex Rins (Ecstar Suzuki Team), Michele Pirro (Mission Winnow Ducati) and Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) all forced to fight for the top two spots and a place in Q2 later after missing out on a place in FP3’s top ten.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
With the session unfolding and riders continuously improving, it was Tony Arbolino who rocketed to the top with a lap right at the end of the session. Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0), who was briefly on top, was pushed back to second whilst home-hero Denis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46) was third. Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) was fourth, vastly improving on his 27th at the end of FP2 yesterday. Completing the top five was Britain’s John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), building on his strong form from Le Mans.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
Details of the Aprilia RS 660 production bike have been revealed in patent drawings that show the Italian company’s intention to go turn the concept into reality.
The concept twin was revealed at the EICMA motorcycle show in Milan last November.
It is powered by two cylinders from a Tuono/RSV4 1100 engine as a 660c parallel twin.
Now, patent images have shown a planned production bike with much of the concept’s features, including MotoGP style winglets, twin LED headlights, asymmetrically mounted rear monoshock and upside-down telescopic front forks.
The concept’s suspension was supplied by Ohlins.
The Italian company said the RS 660 supersport project was aimed at younger riders.
They also said it would be the “development base for a wider range that intends to make Aprilia a key player in an extremely strategic market segment in Europe, but also in Asia and the American market”.
So the patent drawings may not necessarily be the only version to hit the market. We expect there could also be a naked version and maybe even a tourer or adventure bike.
Most notable is the aero, which is now a prominent feature of most MotoGP bikes.
Aprilia said the Concept RS 660 was developed out of a “series of aerodynamic studies” in a wind tunnel.
The aero components appear to be coming to the production model, based on the patent drawings.
With fuel economy top of mind and emissions regulations tightening, motorcycle manufacturers are looking for ways to compete and aero remains one of the biggest hurdles to motorcycles, even more so than big, bulky cars.
Click there to find out how aero affects motorcycles.
Aprilia’s Concept RS 660 features a unique “variable front section” which can adjust air flow direction to vary downforce.
The RS 600 has a large saddle and a comfortable riding position to suit most rider sizes. However, there is no pillion seat on the concept or the patent drawings.
It is supported by a lightweight aluminium frame and swingarm with the engine as a stressed element.
The right arm of the swingarm has a curved shape to accomodate the exhaust, while the shock absorber mount is mounted directly to the swingarm with no linkage to reduce weight.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
We all get annoyed and frustrated by drivers doing the wrong thing, but it doesn’t pay to loose your cool like this Malaysian rider did.
Danial Abdullah Tan, 31, says the female driver of the car tailgated him, blew her horn and almost crashed into him twice before overtaking him.
So he passed the driver, hopped off his scooter and smashed her windscreen with his helmet.
Driver Perodua Alza says the riders were chatting and holding her up.
She posted her dashcam video on Twitter where it went viral and helped police catch the road-raging rider.
Borak macam dekat kedai kopi atas jalanraya…bila kena hon ,marah dan pecahkan cermin kereta pengguna jalanraya yg lain..harap PDRM tangkap pembuli/samseng jalanraya pic.twitter.com/QyvISDUZs5
— 999 Malaysia 🇲🇾 (@999Malaysia) May 29, 2019
He pleaded guilty and will now spend 12 months in jail.
Not only was that a hefty punishment, but he will no doubt need to pay for a new helmet when he gets out!
We have said before that road rage by riders against cars and trucks is a no-win situation.
They are bigger than us and it can end in tragedy.
Most riders have experienced aggressive, inconsiderate, rude, uneducated, distracted, dangerous and plain incompetent drivers on the road.
But we should do all that we can to avoid being lured into road rage as it usually does not pay.
Queensland Police Senior Sergeant Ian Park who created the #ridesafely4me Facebook site says he’s not sure if it’s perception or reality, but “our roads appear to be becoming angrier places”.
“Unfortunately, it seems to involve individuals from all road user groups as both the victims and the perpetrators.
“Motorcyclists and bicyclists are of course the most vulnerable due to the lack of physical protection around them. But the fundamentals of personal safety of the roads are no different to anywhere else,” he says.
If you find yourself feeling unsafe as a result of the actions of another road user, the first priority is to remove yourself from the situation as safely as possible. Unfortunately far too often incidents of poor behaviour by one road user to another are only exacerbated when the ‘victim’ retaliates. If another party chooses to yell at you, beep their horn or flash their lights – so what? Let them get it out of their system and get on their way. Inflaming the situation by ‘biting back’ rarely assists, and often only makes the situation more unsafe for everyone.
However if the other party continues to behave in a manner that makes you feel unsafe, then consider your environment. Perhaps pull into a service station, licensed premises or shopping centre that is likely to be fitted with external CCTV. This will often discourage the aggressor from taking the matter further if they know their actions (and registration details) are going to be recorded.
If no such place is available continue to drive without reacting to the aggressor until a place of safety is available, avoid making eye contact and attempt to disengage from the situation as best and safely as you can.
If you feel that you are in imminent danger, pull over and call triple zero (000). Don’t forget that ‘000’ from a mobile phone doesn’t necessarily go to your nearest operator, so always be ready to say ‘I need police in (name of City/town or nearest regional centre)’.
When speaking with a 000 operator, pass on relevant information that could assist police to investigate the matter, for example, registration details, descriptions of the person/s in the vehicle, time, date, correct location (in case there are traffic monitoring cameras located nearby etc.), descriptions about any features of the vehicle that are not standard (i.e. post factory fitted wheels, decorations, accessories, damage).
If you carry any kind of video recording device, ensure the footage is set aside so that it doesn’t get recorded over before being provided to police. Make sure you don’t just secure the footage of the incident – also keep footage leading up to and beyond the incident to help clarify any potential counter claims by the other party that it was actually you that was the aggressor.
If the situation is over, but you are still of the belief that the matter warrants investigation with a view to action by police, you always have the right to report it. You can either attend your nearest open police station to speak to someone, contact the non-urgent police reporting number which is now 131 444 in almost all Australian Police Jurisdictions. Similarly most policing services across Australia also provide on-line reporting services. Just search the police service in your State or Territory to find their websites and follow the prompts.
Be mindful, however that any complaint of an incident involving one person upon another without any supporting evidence is often difficult to successfully prosecute. A successful prosecution requires sufficient evidence being presented to a court to determine that an offence was committed beyond reasonable doubt.
However, this should not prevent you from reporting the matter, but is something to keep in mind if police determine there is not sufficient evidence for a matter to proceed. It doesn’t necessarily mean police don’t believe you! If you provide police with a video recording you must be willing and able to give evidence.
Source: MotorbikeWriter.com
Australia’s Miller ninth on the timesheets in Italy.
Image: Supplied.
Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) and Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) stole the headlines on Friday at Mugello’s sixth round of the MotoGP World Championship, with the rookies taking a 1-2 and split by just 0.046s at the top.
Their closest competition came from Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) as the Italian was just under a tenth in arrears in P3, with some big names outside the top ten: Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati), Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team).
Conditions were a stark contrast to Le Mans as the sun shone over the stunning Tuscan countryside in Mugello, and as the clock ticked down, every rider apart from LCR Honda Idemitsu’s Takaaki Nakagami and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) had improved on their FP1 times with just under 20 minutes to go.
FP1 leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was sat at the top of the times for most of FP2, followed by a quintet of Ducatis, before Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Vinales then jumped into the top four and fellow Yamaha rider Quartararo moved up into P3 as the timing screens lit up with red sectors.
Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) was the next to strike as he took over at the top, before Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro stuck in the first 1m46s of the weekend to take P1 and impress once again.
Petrucci and Quartararo then exchanged fastest times at the top, but with seconds to go there was another Italian on the march: Bagnaia, who improved drastically from a P17 in FP1 to delight the home crowd. That pushed Quartararo down to second, but only by half a tenth, with Petrucci in P3 and Pol Espargaro keeping hold of his top four.
Vinales didn’t lose too much ground to end the day in fifth after a more difficult FP1 down the timesheets, with Marquez down in P6 as he looks to take his third win in a row. Key rival Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar), pushing to recover from a tougher French GP, was seventh quickest on Friday, ahead of LCR Honda Castrol’s Cal Crutchlow in eighth.
Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) took P9 after a late crash for the Australian that dropped him out the running, with Italian Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) completing the top ten and list of provisional automatic graduates to Q2.
Dovizioso is in P11 so not far off, with Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) just behind him despite a big off for the Frenchman – rider okay. But Rossi is P18 and Lorenzo P20 after day one, and two have a combined total of 13 premier class wins at Mugello.
Sky Racing Team VR46’s Luca Marini concluded the opening day as the man to beat in Moto2, leading FP1 and following it up by going fastest in FP2. It was close, however, with Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) just 0.008s off by the end of play.
2017 winner Mattia Pasini (Petronas Sprinta Racing), replacing the injured Khairul Idham Pawi, made it two Italians inside the top three as he ended Friday in third. Australian Remy Gardner (SAG Racing Team) was 12th fastest.
SIC58 Squadra Corse’s Tatsuki Suzuki took top Moto3 honours, putting in a 1m57.467s in FP2 to fend off a superstar Friday from Italian wildcard Kevin Zannoni (RGR TM Official Team). Second Italian Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) completes the top three at Mugello.
Source: CycleOnline.com.au
Francesco Bagnaia (Pramac Racing) and Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT) stole the headlines on Friday in the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley, with the rookies taking a 1-2 and split by just 0.046 at the top – making it the first time since Qatar 2008 qualifying, when Jorge Lorenzo took his debut pole ahead of Brit James Toseland, that two rookies have topped a full session.
Their closest competition came from Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) as the Italian was just under a tenth in arrears in P3, with some big names outside the top ten: Andrea Dovizioso (Mission Winnow Ducati), Valentino Rossi (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Jorge Lorenzo (Repsol Honda Team).
Conditions were a stark contrast to Le Mans as the sun shone over the stunning Tuscan countryside in Mugello, and as the clock ticked down, every rider apart from LCR Honda Idemitsu’s Takaaki Nakagami and Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing Team Gresini) had improved on their FP1 times with just under 20 minutes to go. As is oft the case in MotoGP FP2, however, most of the chopping and changing came in the final ten minutes.
FP1 leader Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) was sat at the top of the times for most of FP2, followed by a quintet of Ducatis, before Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Maverick Viñales then jumped into the top four and fellow Yamaha rider Quartararo moved up into P3 as the timing screens lit up with red sectors.
Danilo Petrucci (Mission Winnow Ducati) was the next to strike as he took over at the top, before Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Pol Espargaro stuck in the first 1:46 of the weekend to take P1 and impress once again.
Petrucci and Quartararo then exchanged fastest times at the top, but with seconds to go there was another Italian on the march: Bagnaia, who improved drastically from a P17 in FP1 to delight the home crowd. That pushed Quartararo down to second, but only by half-a-tenth, with Petrucci in P3 and Pol Espargaro keeping hold of his top four.
Pecco Bagnaia – P1
“I’m very happy because the work we’re doing is paying off. We have improved in the last races and the feeling was very good already in the FP1. The time attack came well and that’s why I’m satisfied. Tomorrow it will be very important to qualify directly for the Q2.”
Fabio Quartararo – P2
“This track is incredible. I’m enjoying myself a lot on this bike. I feel good under braking and the bike turns really well, so I’m making the most of this and I will do my best to be as fast as possible. I think it’s the first time I have enjoyed myself in this way at this track. We need to review the data but I think that it will be really difficult to get onto the front row of the grid here, because there are many riders whose times are close together. Tomorrow we will continue working on the tyre choice for the race and we will try to have a good qualifying session.”
Danilo Petrucci – P3
“Today the feeling with the bike was quite good, even though I’m not in perfect shape physically since I have a cold. Both sessions went quite well, even though the track doesn’t have much grip at the moment, to the point that you don’t feel a big difference even with a new soft rear tyre. So far, I’m still losing some time in the final sector, where I struggle to make the bike turn as I’d want to and I still can’t pick the lines I’d like to in the last corner. This is what we’ll focus on first, analyzing and comparing data. We need to stay focused and get ready for a fight during qualifying, because we’re all close at the top. Our goal is to fight for pole position, or the first two rows at least.”
Viñales didn’t lose too much ground to end the day in fifth after a more difficult FP1 down the timesheets, with Marquez down in P6 as he looks to take his third win in a row.
Maverick Vinales – P5
“In the afternoon I improved my riding. Just by riding the bike, and by trying to make myself smaller around the whole track, is where I found some time, but still the bike is very difficult, it’s so nervous. I couldn’t ride really well. We need to keep working and try to be better tomorrow. I’m struggling everywhere, so we need to improve and work in a good way if we want to fight for the race. Getting a first or second row for tomorrow will be very important. It’s such a long track, so you need to start at the front.”
Marc Marquez – P6
“Today we worked just with the tyres for the race. I am still a little bit sick from yesterday and also the bike wasn’t 100% either, hopefully a good night’s rest will help us both to be back at 100% tomorrow! Even like this we aren’t far and we just need to keep pushing tomorrow. It’s Friday and we didn’t put a new tyre in at the end so we are still feeling good.”
Alex Rins (Team Suzuki Ecstar) is pushing to recover from a tougher French GP, was seventh quickest on Friday, ahead of LCR Honda Castrol’s Cal Crutchlow in eighth.
Jack Miller (Pramac Racing) took P9 after a late crash for the Australian that dropped him out of the running for the front row.
Jack Miller – P9
“I was going very fast in the time attack but I found some riders who were slowing down and I crashed. I am still very satisfied because the feeling is extremely positive and the race pace is good. Tomorrow I will give my best in FP3 to qualify directly to Q2. I’m confident.”
Italian Franco Morbidelli (Petronas Yamaha SRT) completed the top ten and list of provisional automatic graduates to Q2.
Andrea Dovizioso – P11
“All in all, we’re actually not that far. I still haven’t found the best feeling with my Desmosedici GP, even though we’re quite competitive in terms of race pace. During FP2 we tried and compared two quite different setups, both with positives and negatives, so now we need to be smart putting together all the data to find the best possible compromise. As we were expecting, compared with recent years, there are more fast riders who can fight at the top and some of our advantages perhaps are not that obvious anymore, but we’ve just started and I’m confident that working methodically, as we always do, we’ll be in the mix both during qualifying and the race.”
So who’s missing? Dovizioso is in P11 so not far off, with Johann Zarco (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) just behind him despite a big off for the Frenchman.
Aliens Valentino Rossi is P18 and Jorge Lorenzo P20 after Day 1, and the two have a combined total of 13 premier class wins at Mugello.
Valentino Rossi – P18
“It was a difficult day, I expected to be more competitive, but already from this morning I wasn’t very fast. I wasn’t feeling very well, and I wasn’t able to ride in a very good way. In fact, my position is quite bad, so we have to improve. This afternoon we tried the hard tyres, but the pace isn’t fantastic. We need to improve in other areas than just top speed, because the other Yamahas are quite fast.”
Jorge Lorenzo – P20
“Of course we can’t be happy with 20th, it’s not a good position to be in. But today at the end of FP2 everyone fitted the soft and I stayed working with the harder tyre because I feel we will be able to profit more tomorrow morning. My pace is not so far from everyone else but we still need to improve our one lap pace a bit. I think we could have been top ten with a new tyre. Tomorrow we will see.”
FP3 will be pivotal for both Lorenzo and Rossi, but there’s no need to panic just yet: with good weather forecast it should provide a thrilling time-attack from the whole grid and they’re sure to play a part on Saturday morning.
| Pos | Rider | FP1 | FP2 | Gap |
| 1 | F.Bagnaia | 1’48.532 | 1’46.732 | 0.000 |
| 2 | F.Quartararo | 1’47.811 | 1’46.778 | 0.046 |
| 3 | D.Petrucci | 1’47.751 | 1’46.863 | 0.131 |
| 4 | P.Espargaro | 1’48.001 | 1’46.966 | 0.234 |
| 5 | M.Viñales | 1’48.392 | 1’46.973 | 0.241 |
| 6 | M.Marquez | 1’47.558 | 1’47.062 | 0.330 |
| 7 | A.Rins | 1’48.229 | 1’47.167 | 0.435 |
| 8 | C.Crutchlow | 1’48.109 | 1’47.170 | 0.438 |
| 9 | J.Miller | 1’47.814 | 1’47.185 | 0.453 |
| 10 | F.Morbidelli | 1’48.421 | 1’47.268 | 0.536 |
| 11 | A.Dovizioso | 1’48.214 | 1’47.347 | 0.615 |
| 12 | J.Zarco | 1’48.960 | 1’47.419 | 0.687 |
| 13 | M.Pirro | 1’47.804 | 1’47.421 | 0.689 |
| 14 | T.Nakagami | 1’47.925 | 1’47.483 | 0.751 |
| 15 | J.Mir | 1’48.897 | 1’47.579 | 0.847 |
| 16 | A.Espargaro | 1’47.812 | 1’47.612 | 0.880 |
| 17 | T.Rabat | 1’49.216 | 1’47.686 | 0.954 |
| 18 | V.Rossi | 1’48.356 | 1’47.726 | 0.994 |
| 19 | A.Iannone | 1’48.367 | 1’47.887 | 1.155 |
| 20 | J.Lorenzo | 1’48.550 | 1’48.114 | 1.382 |
| 21 | K.Abraham | 1’48.427 | 1’48.146 | 1.414 |
| 22 | H.Syahrin | 1’49.857 | 1’48.496 | 1.764 |
| 23 | M.Oliveira | 1’49.870 | 1’48.914 | 2.182 |
Sky Racing Team VR46’s Luca Marini concluded the opening day of the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley as the man to beat in Moto2, leading FP1 and following it up by going fastest in FP2. It was close, however, with Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) just 0.008 seconds off by the end of play. 2017 winner Mattia Pasini (Petronas Sprinta Racing), replacing the injured Khairul Idham Pawi, made it two Italians inside the top three as he ended Friday in third.
Lüthi’s teammate Marcel Schrötter was back at the sharp end under the sunny Tuscan skies on Day 1 too, with both Dynavolt Intact GP riders finding a big improvement from FP1. Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) rounded out the top five and was top rookie on home turf, making it a top first day for the team as neither Marini nor Bulega have finished inside the top five so far this season so far.
MB Conveyors Speed Up’s Jorge Navarro was P6 and just over half a second adrift of Marini, and he was the first non-Kalex rider once again, although closely followed by the Red Bull KTM Ajo of rookie Jorge Martin after a solid opening day from the Spaniard.
Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), meanwhile, was the only man in the field not to improve on his FP1 time and as a result slipped to eighth overall. The French GP winner crashed out at Turn 1 halfway through the session and was unhurt but as a result ended the session two tenths off of his best lap from the morning.
Italtrans Racing Team’s Enea Bastianini was ninth quickest ahead of fellow Italian rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio (MB Conveyors Speed Up) after a top day for the debutants – four of them were in the top ten – with veteran Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) in 11th as he looks to repeat his Le Mans pace on homesoil.
Ahead of FP3 on Saturday, the provisional remaining places in Q2 are heading to Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team), Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), with Championship leader Lorenzo Baldassarri in 18th after Day 1. He is, however, only 0.902 behind Marini and made a pretty good comeback after a tougher Friday in Jerez…
Red Bull KTM Tech 3’s Marco Bezzecchi, meanwhile, was the source of some drama as he crashed out at Turn 5 but, despite a trip to the medical centre, he was thankfully declared fit for his home round and will be back out on track for FP3.
| Pos | Rider | FP1 | FP2 | Gap |
| 1 | L.Marini | 1’52.514 | 1’51.986 | 0.00 |
| 2 | T.Luthi | 1’52.835 | 1’51.994 | 0.008 |
| 3 | M.Pasini | 1’52.863 | 1’52.173 | 0.187 |
| 4 | M.Schrotter Ger | 1’53.241 | 1’52.447 | 0.461 |
| 5 | N.Bulega | 1’53.531 | 1’52.524 | 0.538 |
| 6 | J.Navarro | 1’52.926 | 1’52.541 | 0.555 |
| 7 | J.Martin | 1’53.200 | 1’52.548 | 0.562 |
| 8 | A.Marquez | 1’52.555 | 1’52.706 | 0.569 |
| 9 | E.Bastianini | 1’53.834 | 1’52.568 | 0.582 |
| 10 | F.Di Giannanto Ita | 1’52.793 | 1’52.617 | 0.631 |
| 11 | S.Corsi | 1’53.331 | 1’52.631 | 0.645 |
| 12 | R.Gardner | 1’53.178 | 1’52.653 | 0.667 |
| 13 | B.Binder | 1’53.384 | 1’52.709 | 0.723 |
| 14 | S.Lowes | 1’53.386 | 1’52.715 | 0.729 |
| 15 | T.Nagashima | 1’53.182 | 1’52.721 | 0.735 |
| 16 | X.Vierge | 1’53.700 | 1’52.782 | 0.796 |
| 17 | A.Locatelli | 1’53.218 | 1’52.870 | 0.884 |
| 18 | L.Baldassarri Ita | 1’53.757 | 1’52.888 | 0.902 |
| 19 | I.Lecuona | 1’53.701 | 1’53.008 | 1.022 |
| 20 | A.Fernandez Spa | 1’53.777 | 1’53.038 | 1.052 |
| 21 | B.Bendsneyde Ned | 1’53.549 | 1’53.156 | 1.170 |
| 22 | S.Manzi | 1’54.472 | 1’53.342 | 1.356 |
| 23 | L.Tulovic | 1’54.728 | 1’53.578 | 1.592 |
| 24 | D.Aegerter | 1’54.260 | 1’53.618 | 1.632 |
| 25 | S.Odendaal | 1’54.044 | 1’53.668 | 1.682 |
| 26 | M.Bezzecchi | 1’54.470 | 1’53.705 | 1.719 |
| 27 | P.Oettl | 1’54.310 | 1’53.920 | 1.934 |
| 28 | J.Roberts | 1’54.600 | 1’54.471 | 2.485 |
| 29 | J.Dixon | 1’56.397 | 1’55.186 | 3.200 |
| 30 | D.Ekky Pratam Ina | 1’57.967 | 1’55.549 | 3.563 |
| 31 | X.Cardelus | 1’57.835 | 1’56.811 | 4.825 |
| 32 | T.Nagoe | 1’59.746 | 1’56.879 | 4.893 |
SIC58 Squadra Corse’s Tatsuki Suzuki took top Moto3 honours on Day 1 at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley, putting in a 1:57.467 in FP2 to fend off a superstar Friday from Italian wildcard Kevin Zannoni (RGR TM Official Team). Second Italian Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) completes the top three at Mugello – all within an incredible half a tenth – with Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) on the chase in P4, just 0.073 off the top and after topping FP1.
Beautiful sunny skies met the grid on Friday and the timesheets in Moto3 made for a spectacle in themselves: Suzuki’s fastest lap was 1.6 seconds quicker than he went in the morning, Zannoni two seconds faster and Arbolino over a second – with many of the big improvers leaving it late. The likes of Antonelli also shaved a good chunk off their laptimes in the afternoon but he was a consistent presence in the top echelons, as was John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) as he ended the day fifth overall.
Another close trio followed from P6 to P8, with Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3), Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) locked within just over half a tenth. Rodrigo was also second in FP1, but Sasaki and Ramirez both made huge improvements in both laptime and position by the end of play in FP2.
Italian veteran Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers), who won the race in 2014, was ninth fastest and just over three tenths off Suzuki, with Darryn Binder (CIP – Green Power) completing the top ten in a solid opening day for the South African.
Some names looking for more on Saturday will be Championship leader Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) down in P12, key rival Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) in P14 and Qatar winner Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia), who ended Day 1 in a difficult P23.
It’s the fastest 14 on the combined times after FP3 who’ll go straight through to Qualifying 2, has Friday decided it or will we see a Saturday morning shuffle?
| Pos | Rider | FP1 | FP2 | Gap |
| 1 | T.Suzuki | 1’59.067 | 1’57.467 | 0.000 |
| 2 | K.Zannoni | 1’59.934 | 1’57.506 | 0.039 |
| 3 | T.Arbolino | 1’59.026 | 1’57.514 | 0.047 |
| 4 | N.Antonelli | 1’58.188 | 1’57.540 | 0.073 |
| 5 | J.Mcphee | 1’58.360 | 1’57.648 | 0.181 |
| 6 | G.Rodrigo | 1’58.324 | 1’57.691 | 0.224 |
| 7 | A.Sasaki | 1’59.564 | 1’57.709 | 0.242 |
| 8 | M.Ramirez | 1’59.264 | 1’57.751 | 0.284 |
| 9 | R.Fenati | 1’59.246 | 1’57.794 | 0.327 |
| 10 | D.Binder | 2’00.399 | 1’57.870 | 0.403 |
| 11 | A.Lopez | 1’58.987 | 1’57.880 | 0.413 |
| 12 | A.Canet | 1’58.687 | 1’58.077 | 0.610 |
| 13 | S.Garcia | 1’59.233 | 1’58.083 | 0.616 |
| 14 | L.Dalla Porta Ita | 1’58.608 | 1’58.127 | 0.660 |
| 15 | R.Fernandez | 1’59.766 | 1’58.238 | 0.771 |
| 16 | C.Vietti | 1’59.929 | 1’58.268 | 0.801 |
| 17 | M.Yurchenko | 1’59.548 | 1’58.442 | 0.975 |
| 18 | J.Kornfeil | 1’59.190 | 1’58.448 | 0.981 |
| 19 | D.Foggia | 1’59.511 | 1’58.497 | 1.030 |
| 20 | R.Rossi | 1’59.224 | 1’58.524 | 1.057 |
| 21 | K.Masaki | 1’59.837 | 1’58.641 | 1.174 |
| 22 | F.Salac | 1’59.859 | 1’58.835 | 1.368 |
| 23 | K.Toba | 1’59.356 | 1’58.853 | 1.386 |
| 24 | C.Oncu | 1’58.860 | 1’58.926 | 1.393 |
| 25 | A.Arenas | 1’58.928 | 1’59.423 | 1.461 |
| 26 | G.Salim | 2’00.045 | 1’59.015 | 1.548 |
| 27 | A.Migno | 2’00.385 | 1’59.139 | 1.672 |
| 28 | J.Masia | 1’59.178 | 1’59.195 | 1.711 |
| 29 | R.Yamanaka | 1’59.346 | 1’59.274 | 1.807 |
| 30 | V.Perez | 1’59.828 | 2’01.137 | 2.361 |
| 31 | T.Booth-Amos | 2’04.080 | 2’00.237 | 2.770 |
Source: MCNews.com.au
“Yes, I’m pretty happy to be where we are because Mugello is a special place where it is really difficult to be fast, especially as there are a lot of Ducatis on the grid and they have the perfect set up here,” reflected the younger Espargaro brother, who will be aiming to consolidate a top ten place and gain automatic entry to Q2 in FP3 on Saturday morning.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
“I struggle a bit this afternoon. Anyway, both of the sessions were quite good, even if there is a lack of grip in all of the track,” continues the number 9 rider. “In sector four, I struggle a lot to do the last corner. My bike doesn’t turn a lot and it’s very, very difficult for me to connect the entry of the corner and the exit. So, it was never perfect at that corner. We have to understand why, so now we study some data and we can check also other riders, so maybe I will learn something. For sure, today I’m quite happy, even if our competitors are very, very fast. We have to fight tomorrow.”
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
Will see this be topped across the weekend at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley? It’s the first time a Moto2™ bike has reached and surpassed the 300km/h mark as the Triumph-powered Moto2™ engines stretch their legs at Mugello. Keep an eye out to see if Bulega’s speed is topped at some point across the weekend.
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here
