A 1:30.480 saw Marc Marquez (Ducati Lenovo Team) pocket Day 1 honours at the Red Bull Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera in a tightly contested afternoon in the weekly MotoGP chase for the top 10 on a Friday. Marco Bezzecchi (Aprilia Racing) was second fastest on home turf for him and the Noale factory, 0.147s the gap, as Franco Morbidelli handed Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team a top three heading into Saturday’s action at Misano.
MARC MARQUEZ LEADS EARLY EXCHANGES
It was tight at the top for the first half of the session and leading the way was a familiar number #93. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team) was less than a tenth behind, with Bezzecchi P3 just before we tipped into the final 30 minutes of Practice.
The riders who were inside the all-important top 10 when the tipping point into time attack came around were Marc Marquez, Morbidelli, Di Giannantonio, Bezzecchi, Luca Marini (Honda HRC Castrol), Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Alex Marquez (BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP), Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team), Fabio Quartararo (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) and Raul Fernandez (Trackhouse MotoGP Team), with those riders split by just 0.461s. The top 17 were covered by 0.733s, so this was about to be an intense scrap for automatic Q2 promotion.
TIME ATTACK MODE: ENGAGED
With 15 minutes left, the improvements began to roll in. Pecco moved up to P5 before the #63 went fastest by over two tenths, but that soon changed because Marc Marquez moved the goalposts by a further three tenths with a 1:30.480. Bezzecchi then clawed himself into P2 to sit 0.163s adrift of Marc Marquez, as reigning World Champion Jorge Martin (Aprilia Racing) briefly jumped into the top 10 before his lap was chalked off.
Alex Marquez’s best effort was enough for P4 with nine minutes to go, but then Joan Mir (Honda HRC Castrol) slotted into P4 with a 1:30.819 – 0.339s off Marquez’s pace.
Bezzecchi then went faster to go 0.147s slower than Marquez, and just behind, teammate Martin earned a nice tow to pounce into P6, and that shoved Quartararo out of the top 10 with under four minutes to go.
Yellow flags were shown after crashes for Augusto Fernandez (Yamaha Factory Racing Team) at Turn 2 and then Mir at Turn 9, before Raul Fernandez crashed at Turn 15. And the latter’s fall meant laps were cancelled, including for Enea Bastianini (Red Bull KTM Tech3) – the Italian was sitting in P18 with one lap left.
Would there be late changes in the top 10? Yes, because Marini was on a very good lap and the Italian managed to hold it to the line to grab P7 at the chequered flag, but Quartararo missed out – and so did Bastianini! Two big hitters from Barcelona were left frustrated.
YOUR FRIDAY TOP 10
So, Ducati lead Aprilia on Day 1, with Morbidelli the only other rider to get within two tenths of Marc Marquez’s time on Friday afternoon. P4 is a confidence booster for Pecco, while Alex Marquez has a little more work to do than he did in Barcelona vs his brother, as Mir and Marini hand HRC a double top 10. Martin heading straight into Q2 is a potential game changer for the #1’s weekend in Misano, as Acosta and Di Giannantonio earn the final two top 10 spots.
COMING UP: TISSOT SPRINT SATURDAY IN MISANO
As always, Q1 will be a blockbuster as Johann Zarco (CASTROL Honda LCR), Quartararo, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), Maverick Viñales (Red Bull KTM Tech3), Bastianini and more aim for the top two on Saturday morning.