Bagnaia pulls the pin to head Rins, Acosta and Oliveira

May 31, 2024

Bagnaia pulls the pin to head Rins, Acosta and Oliveira, with four factories in the top four on Friday.

Pecco quickest but penalised, Marc Marquez goes through to Q2, Martin ends Friday in seventh and Quartararo JUST misses the cut as Practice in Mugello delivers plenty to talk about.

After an intense hour of Practice at the Gran Premio d’Italia Brembo, the important Q2 spots have been decided and it’s reigning Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) returning to the top. He stamped some authority on the field at the end of Friday to set a magnificent 1:44.938 and pull quarter of a second clear. However, he was also then given a three-place grid penalty for the Grand Prix race on Sunday for an incident with Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™), deemed to have been slow on line and disturbed the #73. Watch the incident below!

Meanwhile, the chasing pack is led by Alex Rins (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ Team) in second as Yamaha continued to make a statement of intent to fight further forward this weekend. Rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3) made a brilliant recovery after a crash at Turn 13 to complete the top three, and the #31 also had a tip off in the morning but no harm done to rider nor pace.

There was drama throughout the session and some after. Acosta’s crash forced the #31 to get a lift back to the paddock for his spare bike, and the Bagnaia decision was confirmed in the evening. The end of Practice was a frantic rush to the top too, deposing the leader before the final few minutes, which had been Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing).

Bagnaia became the first rider of the weekend to enter the 1:44 bracket as a handful of riders tried to find time in the closing minutes, but nobody was able to match the #1’s third sector. Rins shot back up to second though, and Acosta’s damage limitation was even more than that as he takes P3.

Further back in fourth after a brilliant end to Friday’s proceedings was Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse Racing), who improved late in the session to make it four different bikes in the top four as he repped for Aprilia.

After dramas on the last couple of Fridays, meanwhile, Marc Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) had none at Mugello and will have direct entry to Q2 for the first time since the Spanish GP. Has he solved the one-lap puzzle?

After a tough start to the day, Enea Bastianini (Ducati Lenovo Team) found pace with a new soft rear tyre to jump to sixth on the timesheets. Bastianini ended what was a good day for the factory Ducati team and finished ahead of Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing), with the Championship leader having a slightly more muted day on the timesheets.

Alex Marquez, despite that incident with Bagnaia, also claimed his first direct entry to Q2 since the Spanish GP – taking P8 and capping off an excellent Friday for Gresini. Behind the #73 was Viñales, who dropped down to ninth ahead of Aprilia Racing teammate Aleix Espargaro, who took the final spot inside the vital top 10 for Saturday’s qualifying.

Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP™ Team’s Fabio Quartararo missed out by just 0.019 as teammate Rins moves through, and he’ll battle the likes of Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder and Jack Miller, as well as Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team duo Marco Bezzecchi and last year’s polesitter Fabio Di Giannantonio.

They’ll now reset and recharge for super Saturday, and we know it really will be. Join us then for more from Mugello!

FP2: 10:10 (UTC +2)
Q1: 10:50
Q2: 11.15
Tissot Sprint: 15:00