Aprilia’s new MotoGP recruit Maverick Vinales set the pace in the opening practice of the San Marino Grand Prix weekend at Misano.
Vinales, aided by the two-day test he’d had on the RS-GP at the venue a couple of weeks prior, spent the entirety of the dry running in FP1 at the sharp end of the timesheets.
He jumped ahead of Suzuki rider Joan Mir for the top spot shortly before heavy rain arrived, preventing any improvements and severely limiting mileage in the last third of the 45-minute runtime.
Thoughts on the conditions @JoanMirOfficial? 😂#SanMarinoGP 🇸🇲 pic.twitter.com/AwOj98es8D
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 17, 2021
The factory Ducatis of Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller completed the top four, with Alex Rins making it two Suzukis in the top five.
Championship leader Fabio Quartararo was 0.005s off sixth-placed Pol Espargaro (Honda) but didn’t look particularly comfortable on his Yamaha M1 bike, this made clear by a slightly agitated debrief with his crew captured by the TV cameras.
Honda’s test rider Stefan Bradl began his wildcard weekend with eighth place, ahead of the marque’s flagship rider Marc Marquez and Vinales’ Aprilia team-mate Aleix Espargaro.
The other test rider entered as wildcard this weekend, Ducati’s Michele Pirro, was 15th.
The returning Franco Morbidelli, back after a lengthy recovery from knee surgery and making his first appearance as a factory Yamaha rider, was the final rider within a second of Vinales in 16th.
Petronas Yamaha’s new recruit Andrea Dovizioso, effectively taking Morbidelli’s previous ride for the rest of the season, was 24th and last, 2.545s off the pace.
Practice 1 Results
| Pos | Name | Team | Bike | Gap Next | Gap Leader | Best Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maverick Viñales | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | 1m32.666s | ||
| 2 | Joan Mir | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.08s | +0.08s | 1m32.746s |
| 3 | Francesco Bagnaia | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.055s | +0.135s | 1m32.801s |
| 4 | Jack Miller | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.058s | +0.193s | 1m32.859s |
| 5 | Alex Rins | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | Suzuki | +0.026s | +0.219s | 1m32.885s |
| 6 | Pol Espargaró | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.134s | +0.353s | 1m33.019s |
| 7 | Fabio Quartararo | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | Yamaha | +0.005s | +0.358s | 1m33.024s |
| 8 | Stefan Bradl | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.023s | +0.381s | 1m33.047s |
| 9 | Marc Marquez | Repsol Honda Team | Honda | +0.053s | +0.434s | 1m33.1s |
| 10 | Aleix Espargaró | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia | +0.002s | +0.436s | 1m33.102s |
| 11 | Johann Zarco | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.041s | +0.477s | 1m33.143s |
| 12 | Enea Bastianini | Avintia Esponsorama Racing | Ducati | +0.171s | +0.648s | 1m33.314s |
| 13 | Takaaki Nakagami | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | Honda | +0.095s | +0.743s | 1m33.409s |
| 14 | Jorge Martin | Pramac Racing | Ducati | +0.042s | +0.785s | 1m33.451s |
| 15 | Michele Pirro | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati | +0.031s | +0.816s | 1m33.482s |
| 16 | Franco Morbidelli | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.088s | +0.904s | 1m33.57s |
| 17 | Iker Lecuona | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.14s | +1.044s | 1m33.71s |
| 18 | Alex Marquez | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda | +0.056s | +1.1s | 1m33.766s |
| 19 | Valentino Rossi | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +0.025s | +1.125s | 1m33.791s |
| 20 | Danilo Petrucci | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.159s | +1.284s | 1m33.95s |
| 21 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.072s | +1.356s | 1m34.022s |
| 22 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM | +0.004s | +1.36s | 1m34.026s |
| 23 | Luca Marini | SKY VR46 Avintia Team | Ducati | +0.011s | +1.371s | 1m34.037s |
| 24 | Andrea Dovizioso | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha | +1.174s | +2.545s | 1m35.211s |
