Emilia Romagna MotoGP: Bagnaia on record pace as Martin crashes in Practice
Reigning champion fastest in crash-filled second session at Misano
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia topped second practice for the MotoGP Emilia Romagna Grand Prix as championship leader Jorge Martin fell in a crash-filled session.
Having taken pole for the San Marino GP at Misano two weeks ago by setting a new lap record, Bagnaia bettered this in the hour-long Practice for the Emilia Romagna GP.
The Ducati rider posted a 1m30.286s to lead Pramac’s Martin by 0.198s after the championship leader fell off his bike at Turn 8 in the closing moments of the session.
He was one of seven riders to have suffered a crash in the afternoon outing at Misano, though he walked away unscathed and safely secured a Q2 spot for qualifying.
Marc Marquez completed the top three in a scrappy session for the Gresini rider, who ditched his #1 bike to set a best lap of 1m30.585s.
Enea Bastianini was fourth despite a late fall, while Fabio Quartararo secured a second successive Q2 spot in fifth for Yamaha.
Bagnaia set the early pace in second practice with a 1m30.924s after the first 15 minutes of running and would continue to lead the way until Martin dethroned him with a 1m30.844s with just over half an hour remaining.
Martin did better this to a 1m30.5s, but had this scrubbed for setting it through a yellow flag zone when Tech3 GASGAS rider Augusto Fernandez crashed at Turn 5 with just over 10 minutes to go.
A few moments later, Bagnaia posted the 1m30.286s that would come under no threat through to the end of the session as a spate of falls caused further yellow flag disruption.
Martin’s tip-off at Turn 8 was on such incident, as he lost the front of his Pramac Ducati under braking for Turn 8.
Seconds later, VR46 Ducati rider Fabio Di Giannantonio suffered a violent incident at Turn 9 which saw him rolling heavily through the gravel.
Having recently dislocated his left shoulder and admitting ahead of this weekend that he was nowhere near full fitness, the Italian’s incident has caused some concern for his continued participation in the Emilia Romagna GP.
Should he be fit to continue, he will have to go through Q1 having ended Practice in 13th.
Marc Marquez didn’t look as comfortable in second practice as he did this morning, leading him to set his best lap on his #2 Gresini Ducati - which proved good enough for third ahead of Bastianini.
Quartararo headed Pramac’s Franco Morbidelli, with Marco Bezzecchi seventh on the VR46 Ducati.
Maverick Vinales was top Aprilia in eighth, with Pedro Acosta the only KTM into Q2 despite a crash at the start of the session. Aleix Espargaro completed the top 10 for Aprilia.
All KTM riders crashed in second practice, with Jack Miller falling at the start and ending up 11th, while Binder took a tumble on his final lap which also left him in Q1 in 15th.
A crash for Alex Marquez contributed to him finishing the session in 14th, while technical dramas means Miguel Oliveira (Trackhouse) could only manage 16th.
Johann Zarco was top Honda in 12th for LCR, while Yamaha’s Alex Rins was absent with illness.
