Andrea Iannone, who confirmed last night he would be leaving Ecstar Suzuki at the end of the season, put a new soft rear Michelin to good use in the opening Mugello MotoGP practice to top the timesheets by a little more than half a second.
The Italian’s final lap of 1’47.253 was 0.550 quicker than Ducati test rider Michele Pirro who led for most of session on his GP18 on a track that hasn’t got as much grip as usual, according to a few of the top runners, but that is most likely due to humidity in the valley. Pirro was fastest through the speed trap at more than 220mph…
Pirro’s Ducati team-mate Andrea Dovizioso was third place, setting a 1’47.961 on his sixth lap of 16 with Maverick Vinales bouncing back from an early turn-one crash to finish in fourth place and 0.034s behind the Italian.
Jack Miller stuck in a late lap on his Pramac Ducati to end fifth place, one ahead of reigning champion Marc Marquez. The Spaniard is using a revised seat unit on his Repsol RC213V but the new carbon swingarms are not yet in evidence.
Rookie Franco Morbidelli finished in seventh place, one ahead of Valentino Rossi. The works Yamaha man set a 1’48.218 with Jorge Lorenzo in ninth and Cal Crutchlow completing the top ten just less than a second off the pace.
Johann Zarco was, unusally, the slowest of the Yamaha runner in 11th with Alex Rins just behind. Danilo Petrucci and the Espargaros rounded out the top 15. Dani Pedrosa was 17th and 1.416 off the pace with Bradley Smith in 20th and Scott Redding 22nd.
Session top speeds
51 Michele PIRRO ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 354.7
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 353.4
9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Alma Pramac Racing DUCATI 352.2
17 Karel ABRAHAM CZE Angel Nieto Team DUCATI 348.8
35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL HONDA 347.2
53 Tito RABAT SPA Reale Avintia Racing DUCATI 345.9
10 Xavier SIMEON BEL Reale Avintia Racing DUCATI 345.8
19 Alvaro BAUTISTA SPA Angel Nieto Team DUCATI 345.2
25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA 344.8
93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 344.8
