Fifteen riders within the span of one second. Mugello had never seen such a tight Friday opening, on a track that in the past often created clear gaps between riders and bikes. But today’s MotoGP is so fiercely competitive that a mere tenth of a second can make the difference between “hero and zero.”
And so, in a weekend that marks the return to form of Miguel Oliveira, who has finally shaken off the after-effects of his crash in the Argentine Sprint, it just so happens that the top ten riders—who will go straight into Q2 tomorrow—are separated by only 645 thousandths. Miguel, first of the excluded riders, missed out by just 125 thousandths. The Portuguese rider—who scored his first of 17 Grand Prix wins here at Mugello in Moto3 back in 2015—ended the Practice session in 11th place.
Just behind him was teammate Jack Miller, 13th, whose run was disrupted with just over 30 minutes remaining by a crash at Bucine, the final corner of the Tuscan track. The crash made the rest of the session more difficult, though luckily the Australian rider walked away uninjured, apart from a minor knock to his glute. In the end, the result didn’t reward Miguel and Jack, despite the clear progress shown by a Yamaha in constant development—evidenced by both Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins placing in the top ten.
With an M1 that proved competitive even on the ups and downs of Mugello, both Prima Pramac Yamaha riders will be expected to fight for the two Q1 positions that grant access to Q2—and a chance at pole position.
MotoGP – Italian GP schedule: Saturday: 10.10 Free Practice 2; 10.50 Qualifying; 15.00 Sprint Race (11 laps – 57,695 km) Sunday: 9.40 Warm-up; 14.00 Race (23 laps – 120,64 km)
Fifteen riders within the span of one second. Mugello had never seen such a tight Friday opening, on a track that in the past often created clear gaps between riders and bikes. But today’s MotoGP is so fiercely competitive that a mere tenth of a second can make the difference between “hero and zero.”
And so, in a weekend that marks the return to form of Miguel Oliveira, who has finally shaken off the after-effects of his crash in the Argentine Sprint, it just so happens that the top ten riders—who will go straight into Q2 tomorrow—are separated by only 645 thousandths. Miguel, first of the excluded riders, missed out by just 125 thousandths. The Portuguese rider—who scored his first of 17 Grand Prix wins here at Mugello in Moto3 back in 2015—ended the Practice session in 11th place.
Just behind him was teammate Jack Miller, 13th, whose run was disrupted with just over 30 minutes remaining by a crash at Bucine, the final corner of the Tuscan track. The crash made the rest of the session more difficult, though luckily the Australian rider walked away uninjured, apart from a minor knock to his glute. In the end, the result didn’t reward Miguel and Jack, despite the clear progress shown by a Yamaha in constant development—evidenced by both Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins placing in the top ten.
With an M1 that proved competitive even on the ups and downs of Mugello, both Prima Pramac Yamaha riders will be expected to fight for the two Q1 positions that grant access to Q2—and a chance at pole position.
MotoGP – Italian GP schedule:
Saturday: 10.10 Free Practice 2; 10.50 Qualifying; 15.00 Sprint Race (11 laps – 57,695 km)
Sunday: 9.40 Warm-up; 14.00 Race (23 laps – 120,64 km)