Franco Morbidelli leads Marc Marquez in San Marino MotoGP warm-up
Franco Morbidelli leads warm-up for the San Marino MotoGP, Marc Marquez second after a technical problem.
Fresh from his first MotoGP top-three finish since 2021 in Saturday’s San Marino Sprint, home star Franco Morbidelli set the pace in warm-up at Misano.
The Pramac rider, debuting special peacock helmet colours, moved to the top with a 1m 31.687s on his sixth and final lap, using the same medium front and soft rear tyre choice from the Sprint.
Marc Marquez, wearing a special white retro Gresini livery, left the pits to scrub in a set of wet tyres at the start of the session - due to a risk of rain - but was forced to park his GP23 due to a technical issue.
The Aragon winner got a scooter ride back to the pits, jumped on his spare bike and snatched second on the timesheets by just 0.038s on his final lap (soft front, medium rear).
Marquez, who rode from ninth to fifth in the Sprint, split the Pramac Ducatis this morning with title leader and Sprint winner Jorge Martin in third (medium tyres front and rear).
Meanwhile, after a disappointing defeat at the hands of Martin on Saturday, local star Francesco Bagnaia was seen shaking his head in frustration after running wide on his way to tenth place (medium front, soft rear tyres).
"Without painkillers I cannot ride well," he said afterwards, referring to the Aragon injuries. "In any case, we will be prepared [with painkillers] this afternoon. The wind is different, the conditions are different today, but we can be really competitive."
The reigning double champion heads a front row alongside Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi, with Martin at the head of row two.
Maverick Vinales provided some hope after a tough home weekend for Aprilia with fourth (medium, medium), just ahead of Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo (medium, medium).
Alex Marquez, Pedro Acosta and Jack Miller completed the top eight, with Bezzecchi – an early faller on Saturday - just 16th this morning.
The soft rear tyre was used by all riders (with the medium front) for the Sprint, but the medium rear was expected to be preferred by most for the grand prix.
However, the cooler overcast conditions compared to Saturday mean more riders might be willing to gamble on the soft. Enea Bastianini is among those thought to be seriously considering the soft, using that tyre again on his way to ninth this morning.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
