MotoGP

Espargaro leads Ducati quintet in second Mugello MotoGP practice

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
7 min read

Aprilia rider Aleix Espargaro headed as many as five Ducatis in second Friday practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello.

Key moments:

> Espargaro edges ahead of Bagnaia

> Seven Ducatis in top 11

> Zarco shunts twice, causes red flag

Ducati already held a 1-2-3, headed by Johann Zarco’s new-liveried Pramac-run Ducati Desmosedici GP22, for most of the session – albeit Zarco did manage to cause a red-flag stoppage soon after setting his time.

The Frenchman dropped his GP22 coming through the Materassi corner and it slid through to gravel to come to a halt at the next turn, Borgo San Lorenzo, with the gravel it brought with it causing a stoppage for clean-up work.

Once the session resumed and transitioned into late-session time attacks on fresh rubber, Ducati went as far as to briefly lock out the top seven.

Yet Espargaro crashed the Ducati party with just over two minutes left on the clock by jumping to the top spot with the aid of a tow from team-mate Vinales.

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Francesco Bagnaia came up half a tenth short of striking back but was still nearly four tenths up on the next-best rider – factory Ducati team-mate Jack Miller.

Zarco crashed again at Correntaio in the final moments of the session, settling for fourth ahead of VR46 Ducati’s Enea Bastianini and Gresini Ducati’s Enea Bastianini.

Brad Binder put a KTM in the top 10 in seventh, with points leader Fabio Quartararo and Pol Espargaro doing the same for Yamaha and Honda respectively – the pair slotting in right behind VR46 Ducati rookie Marco Bezzecchi.

There were therefore no Suzukis in the top 10, its lead rider Alex Rins settling for 13th after a late crash at Materassi.

Practice 2 Results

Pos Name Team Bike Gap Next Gap Leader Best Time
1 Aleix Espargaró Aprilia Racing Aprilia 1m45.891s
2 Francesco Bagnaia Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.049s +0.049s 1m45.94s
3 Jack Miller Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati +0.373s +0.422s 1m46.313s
4 Johann Zarco Pramac Racing Ducati +0.036s +0.458s 1m46.349s
5 Luca Marini Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.013s +0.471s 1m46.362s
6 Enea Bastianini Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +0.033s +0.504s 1m46.395s
7 Brad Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.044s +0.548s 1m46.439s
8 Marco Bezzecchi Mooney VR46 Racing Team Ducati +0.034s +0.582s 1m46.473s
9 Fabio Quartararo Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.046s +0.628s 1m46.519s
10 Pol Espargaró Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.099s +0.727s 1m46.618s
11 Jorge Martin Pramac Racing Ducati +0.011s +0.738s 1m46.629s
12 Marc Marquez Repsol Honda Team Honda +0.029s +0.767s 1m46.658s
13 Alex Rins Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.005s +0.772s 1m46.663s
14 Miguel Oliveira Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.155s +0.927s 1m46.818s
15 Takaaki Nakagami LCR Honda IDEMITSU Honda +0.034s +0.961s 1m46.852s
16 Fabio Di Giannantonio Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati +0.063s +1.024s 1m46.915s
17 Maverick Viñales Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.138s +1.162s 1m47.053s
18 Alex Marquez LCR Honda Castrol Honda +0.098s +1.26s 1m47.151s
19 Joan Mir Team SUZUKI ECSTAR Suzuki +0.118s +1.378s 1m47.269s
20 Franco Morbidelli Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha +0.199s +1.577s 1m47.468s
21 Andrea Dovizioso WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha +0.115s +1.692s 1m47.583s
22 Remy Gardner Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.101s +1.793s 1m47.684s
23 Darryn Binder WithU Yamaha RNF MotoGP Team Yamaha +0.003s +1.796s 1m47.687s
24 Michele Pirro Austrian Junior Cup Ducati +0.039s +1.835s 1m47.726s
25 Raul Fernandez Tech3 KTM Factory Racing KTM +0.272s +2.107s 1m47.998s
26 Lorenzo Savadori Aprilia Racing Aprilia +0.09s +2.197s 1m48.088s
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