Quartararo tops first practice of second Misano weekend

Fabio Quartararo led a Petronas Yamaha 1-2 in the first practice session of MotoGP’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend at the Misano circuit.

Quartararo fired in a 1m31.721s to outpace his San Marino Grand Prix-winning team-mate Franco Morbidelli by 0.090s.

Morbidelli picked up where he had left off the prior weekend in the early minutes of FP1, taking over from KTM’s Pol Espargaro in first place with a 1m32.365s.

Espargaro, who had been encouraged by his long-run pace in the midweek official test day, reclaimed the top spot by 0.010s with 20 minutes left on the clock, but Morbidelli struck back five minutes later, jumping to a 1m32.224s, with both riders using hard rear tyres.

Coming into the final minutes of the session, championship leader Andrea Dovizioso equipped a fresh set of softs and fired in a 1m32.152s, only to be surpassed by title rival Joan Mir moments later, the Suzuki rider also using new soft rubber as he became the first rider to dip into the 1m31s margin this weekend.

Quartararo then took the lead by four hundredths with a 1m31.889s lap – and though KTM rider Espargaro soon half a tenth quicker, Quartararo’s next effort on the soft rear was faster still, putting him out of his rivals’ reach.

Morbidelli had to settle for second, but had used a hard rear on his final run, with Espargaro rounding out top three on the medium rear.

Mir was two tenths off the pace in fourth, while his Suzuki squadmate Alex Rins endured a dreadful session.

Rins only narrowly stayed on the bike during a major highside at Turn 5 early on, the incident resulting in a popped airbag on his suit. After rejoining the track, he then had a low-side crash at Turn 8, and ultimately ended the session 16th-quickest.

Tech3 KTM’s Miguel Oliveira was the final rider to go below 1m32s in fifth, while LCR rider Takaaki Nakagami led Honda’s efforts in sixth.

Dovizioso was shuffled down to seventh by the end, staying narrowly clear fellow Ducati riders Johann Zarco in eighth and Francesco Bagnaia in 10th – with the two main contenders for Dovizioso’s works ride in 2021 split by Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro.

It was an encouraging session for Honda rookie Alex Marquez, who was in the top five at two separate occasions in FP1 and ultimately wound up 12th, behind Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci, in what was arguably his strongest showing in 2020 so far.

The two works Yamahas of Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi were 13th and 17th respectively.

Practice 1 Results