MotoGP Italian GP: Fabio di Giannantonio tops twice red-flagged practice for Ducati

Fabio di Giannantonio set the pace in a start/stop Friday practice for the Italian Grand Prix, as four Ducati riders finished inside the top five.

Having already topped the opening practice in the morning, Di Giannantonio remained as the rider to beat as the opening day of track action ended at Mugello, edging out factory rider Francesco Bagnaia by less than a tenth of a second.

The Italian was immediately up to pace as the hour-long practice began, beating his FP1 benchmark by almost half a second within the opening five minutes.

Moments later, Alex Rins edged ahead by half a tenth before home hero Bagnaia asserted himself on top with a time of 1m45.697s on the factory Ducati.

Bagnaia’s lap, set on the soft rear tyre, remained unbeaten for roughly 25 minutes until Trackhouse rider Ai Ogura put Aprilia at the front by just 0.005s.

Soon after, factory Aprilia rider Marco Bezzecchi moved the goalposts further with a 1m45.023s, putting almost seven tenths between him and the rest of the field.

Just before the halfway mark, Fabio Quartararo lost the front end of his Yamaha into Turn 4, his bike sliding across the gravel trap before coming to rest back on track. The incident triggered the first red flag of the day, but the debris was quickly cleared to allow the action to resume. 

With less than a quarter of the session remaining, several riders fitted new tyres for a time attack, with Fermin Aldeguer separating the Aprilias of Bezzecchi and Ogura before going second.

However, before further improvements could follow, Brad Binder’s KTM came to a stop after the pit exit with 12 minutes to go, forcing the race control to deploy the red flag again.

The stoppage was again short-lived, with Ducati flexing its muscle in the final part of the session.

Within the space of a minute, five Ducati riders lowered Bezzecchi’s benchmark in rapid succession, with Di Giannantonio leading the Borgo Panigale marque’s charge. 

Although both Bezzecchi and team-mate Jorge Martin were able to set another flying lap, neither could mix with the Ducatis up front.

That meant Di Giannantonio ended Friday on top with a 1m44.808s ahead of Bagnaia, with Tech3’s Enea Bastianini surging to third to make it a 1-2-3 for Italian riders.

VR46’s Franco Morbidelli brought more delight for home fans in fourth, with Aldeguer holding on to fifth ahead of the returning Marc Marquez.

Championship leader Bezzecchi eventually ended up seventh, with Martin jumping to eighth late on. Rins (Yamaha) and Diogo Moreira (LCR Honda) were the top representatives for their respective manufacturers in ninth and 10th.

None of the factory KTMs secured a direct entry into Q2, with Pedro Acosta languishing in 13th behind the Trackhouse bikes of Ogura and Raul Fernandez. Acosta was already at risk of ending up in Q1 when he suffered a late off, while team-mate Binder could only manage 18th after switching to his second bike.

Michele Pirro and Cal Crutchlow, racing in Mugello as replacements for Alex Marquez and Johann Zarco, propped up the field in 21st and 22nd respectively.

We want your opinion!

– The Motorsport.com Team

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com