The sun shone on the Mugello circuit as the Gran Premio d'Italia Oakley got underway. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) took hold of the timesheets early on, and despite being bumped down to P13 was able to put on the afterburners on the closing stages of the session to stamp his authority on Practice 1 with a 1:46.121. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) started strong in Mugello bagging P2 in the first session of the weekend. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) also got his Italian GP off to the perfect start as the South African looks to strengthen KTM's Championship campaign on his championships rivals' home soil.
The perfect start to the weekend for @alexmarquez73! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) June 9, 2023
He tops #MotoGP P1 for @GresiniRacing at their home GP! ????#ItalianGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/uLJ2c51ehF
Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) sits just 1 point away from the top spot in the Championship going into his home GP, and also just sits 0.180s from the top spot in the standings after his P1 performance put him in P4. Slotting just behind the Italian was the Prima Pramac Racing duo of Johann Zarco and Jorge Martin who finished the session in 5th and 6th respectively after threatening the top spots at the end of the session.
Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing) was enjoying life on his Desmosedici as the wildcard rider put himself into P2 early on in the session and stayed at the sharp end as he moved the goalposts with 15 minutes remaining, with Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) slotting in behind him in P2.
The riders hit the track on soft rubber with 5 minutes to go, and it was time for the times to tumble. This crashed the party for the riders in red as Pirro was demoted to P11 with a flurry of fast laps bumping Bagnaia down to P16 just behind his teammate Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team).
Misfortune for one Aprilia, fortune for another! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) June 9, 2023
Maverick is the first to demote Pirro from top spot! ????#ItalianGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/JvW2rhnZFU
As the red sectors came flying in Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) was the first to reshuffle the order as the Spaniard flew to the top of the timesheets. In the end, the Aprilia man came away with a P8 following the end-of-the-session rush, slotting himself just behind Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) in P7.
Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) finished the session in P9 just 0.288s away from the top spot with Raul Fernandez (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) rounding out the top 10.
Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) didn't get the start to the Italian GP that he wanted onboard his Aprilia factory machine. The Spaniard limped away from the P1 session after a fast crash at the final corner.
Oh that's not what @AleixEspargaro needed! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) June 9, 2023
He was already looking to be in pain and now he's slipped off at the final corner! ????#ItalianGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/FO9znuhkZp
Practice 2 for MotoGP™ commences at 15:00 local time (GMT +2) so make sure not to miss any of the action on motogp.com!
Top 10
1. Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) – 1:46.121
2. Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) +0.087
3. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) +0.104
4. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) +0.180
5. Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) +0.214
6. Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) +0.240
7. Franco Morbidelli (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™) +0.279
8. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) +0.283
9. Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team) +0.288
10. Raul Fernandez (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP Team) +0.307