Ecstar Suzuki’s Amdrea Iannone has finished the opening day of MotoGP practice at the top of the timesheets, using the soft Michlein rear tyre to set a 1’46.735 in a session that was red-flagged twice.
The first stoppage came when Ducati test rider Michele Pirro suffered an enormous crash at the end of the start/finish straight. The Italian flew 15 feet in the air at 300km/h and was knocked unconscious but team principal Paolo Ciabatti confirmed his injuries are not serious and he has been take to Florence Hospital.
Team-mate Andrea Dovizioso caused the second red flag when his GP18 motor blew as it crossed the line just minutes after he had set an all-time MotoGP top speed record of 356.4km/h or 222.75mph in real money.
Maverick Vinales had set the fastest time of the session and the day, putting in a 1’47.122 on the medium rear but, like this morning, Iannone had other ideas with the softest compound and removed his bragging rights while thumbing his nose at Davide Brivio.
Marc Marquez bounced back from his own big crash to bag third place with a 1’47.218 on the soft rear just ahead of Johann Zarco who picked up his pace by a second to take fourth place on the Monster Yamaha. Jack Miller was the leading Ducati in fifth on a 1’47.403.
Miller was 0.030s faster than best mate Cal Crutchlow who, in turn, was 0.012 quicker than Valentino Rossi, slowest of the Yamahas for the day. Franco Morbidelli continued his decent form from this morning to end in eighth for the day and 0.762s off the pace.
Danilo Petrucci was ninth and one place ahead of the departing Jorge Lorenzo, who Petrucci is likely to replace in the factory team. Pirro’s time from this morning kept him in 11th place with Taka Nakagami in 12th place. Dovizioso’s engine expiration means he finished in 13th with Dani Pedrosa and Hafizh Syahrin next along.
Session top speeds
4 Andrea DOVIZIOSO ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 356.4
51 Michele PIRRO ITA Ducati Team DUCATI 355.2
9 Danilo PETRUCCI ITA Alma Pramac Racing DUCATI 351.4
35 Cal CRUTCHLOW GBR LCR Honda CASTROL HONDA 350.9
93 Marc MARQUEZ SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 348.1
44 Pol ESPARGARO SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM 347.4
53 Tito RABAT SPA Reale Avintia Racing DUCATI 346.5
26 Dani PEDROSA SPA Repsol Honda Team HONDA 346.4
25 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Movistar Yamaha MotoGP YAMAHA 346.3
99 Jorge LORENZO SPA Ducati Team DUCATI 345.2
