Is there a better way to kick off your race weekend than making it to the top of timesheets on Friday? We do not think so. Maverick Viñales stole the show in Friday’s practice with a stunning late lap during the final seconds of Practice, that saw him top for the first time of the season the one-hour session, to get the upper hand on the Ducati Factory duo playing on home turf. Enea Bastianini missed out on Q2 by just 0.126 seconds, as we saw him finish 12th of an extremely competitive afternoon.
Grand Prix of Italy
Maverick Viñales confirmed his current good form on the opening day of the Grand Prix of Italy as he placed his KTM at the top of the timesheets on Friday’s Practice for the first time since the start of the season. The feeling and confidence arriving at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello were both strong after a positive test in Aragon two weeks ago. Eager to put all the learnings in application, Maverick headed out on track super motivated this morning for FP1. Top Gun already showed good speed as he took the 7th time of the opening session with a 1'46.648 (+0.449), before heading to the extremely hot one-hour Practice session. The fight for the top 10 began at 3pm under a scorching sun in the hills of Tuscany. The number 12 chose to split his session between 5 runs, with half of the session dedicated to race preparation, and the second to time attacks. Maverick provisionally sat in P5 with less than 20 minutes to go with a 1'46.943, when all riders began to gear up. Times started to seriously go down for all. Maverick first clocked in a 1'45.204 before returning to the pit box for final changes on his bike. Very few minutes remained as he returned on track, time to give it all! Top Gun had not said his final word, as he rode a stunning 1’44.634 to steal the show and take the top of the timesheets in the final seconds of the session, ahead of the two Ducati bikes of Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez. Impressive first day for Mav' at the Mugello, and we will be looking forward to seeing where he can place his RC16 on the grid on Saturday.
It is a special weekend that started for Italian Enea Bastianini playing at home in front of family, friends and local fans. Eager to get a good result at home during a tough period of adaptation to the RC16, our number 23 showed good pace all day with noticeable improvements made as the day went by. He finished FP1 just one second off the fastest lap time this morning with a 1'47.275, before kicking off the very competitive Practice session. Feeling a bit better than usual at the braking and in general on a track that he loves, ‘Bestia’ significantly improved this afternoon. He ended up clocking a 1’45.405 to finish in 12th and miss out on the top 10 by just 0.126 seconds, the closest to a direct Q2 Enea has been this season so far. 14 riders finished less than one second off Maverick Viñales, so it is safe to say that all riders are extremely competitive, and qualifying should be blistering! We will be back at 10:10 local time for FP2 tomorrow, and the qualifying sessions will follow immediately. Then at 15:00, don’t miss the Tissot Sprint at Mugello, for 11 laps of MotoGP™ madness!
MAVERICK VIÑALES: "We arrived in Mugello with an open mind, knowing that we can be fast, especially after a very good test in Aragon. It is obvious that going under the 1’44 bar at this track is very impressive, so I am quite happy and optimistic about the weekend. Still we have some details to work on, so let’s keep growing, because we are building something unique, and it takes time. We are enjoying our time on the bike at the moment, so we need to continue trying to get the maximum out of it to continue improving, pushing and fighting. Everyone was really fast today, especially Pedro (Acosta), so it will be useful for us to compare all the data and try to arrive on Saturday in the best shape."
ENEA BASTIANINI: "It has been a good day to be honest. We have been improving since the morning, and we ended up quite close to the top 10 this afternoon. It was good to have that feeling back, especially on this track at home. Let’s see if we can give more tomorrow, especially in Q1 because I want to start as much in front as possible to do a good result here in Italy. We know where we lost time today, always on the exits because I felt some movements on the rear, so let’s check the data carefully, compare with Maverick’s data too. Our approach on the braking was better today compared to the previous races, so we are feeling some positives. Let’s continue working, and enjoy tomorrow."
PRACTICE SESSION RESULTS
1. Maverick Viñales (SPA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, 1'44.634
2. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA), Ducati Lenovo Team, +0.110
3. Marc Marquez (SPA), Ducati Lenovo Team, +0.146
12. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Red Bull KTM Tech3, +0.771
TRACK RECORDS
All Time Record: 2024 - J. Martin (SPA) - 1'44.504 - 180.6 km/h
Best Race Lap: 2024 - F. Bagnaia (ITA) - 1'45.770 - 178.5 km/h
Best Pole: 2024 - J. Martin (SPA) - 1'44.504 - 180.6 km/h
Top Speed: 2024 - P. Espargaro (SPA) - 366.1 km/h
