Italian Francesco “Pecco” Bagnaia (Ducati Desmosedici GP23) took pole position for the MotoGP Italian Grand Prix at the Mugello circuit with a record pace for the top four finishers.
The world leader set a new category record and, in his wake, also beat the previous best brand Marc Márquez (Honda RC 213 V), as did his brother Alex Márquez (Ducati Desmosedici GP22) and Australian Jack Miller (KTM CR 16).
Bagnaia set a new absolute record for the track by rolling in 1:44.855 with which he beat the record that in 2021 was carried out by the Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha YZR M 1), with 1:45.187, a time that was also surpassed by Marc Márquez, who he rolled in 1:44.933, Alex Márquez with 1:45.007 and Jack Miller with 1:45.186.
Before, the third free session for the Spanish Raúl Fernández (Aprilia RS-GP) did not start too well, who crashed in turn one, that of San Donato, in which he gave himself a good “roll” that kept him for a few moments on the ground, although he then left the track under his own power.
Although in reality this free session “only” served to get the bikes ready for the sprint race and the long race on Sunday, since the official classifications are defined with the results of the first day of practice, the pace led to some more errors, as fellow Spaniard Augusto Fernández (GasGas RC 16) also rolled on the ground at turn fourteen and forced the red flag to be shown barely five minutes from the end of the session.
Augusto Fernández’s fall left his motorcycle completely destroyed in the middle of the track, although the rider did not give the feeling of having any discomfort, something unusual in a weekend in which many MotoGP riders are “touched”. physically: “Pecco” Bagnaia, Enea Bastianini, Aleix Espargaró, Miguel Oliveira, Raúl Fernández and Luca Marini, as well as Joan Mir, who after his crash on Friday decided to withdraw from the Italian Grand Prix.
Thus, ten minutes late, the first classification began, in which the first great reference could be the Spanish Maverick Viñales (APrilia RS-GP), but his rivals were not willing to give up an inch and the Italian Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha YZR M 1), first, and the Spanish Alex Márquez (Ducati Desmosedici GP22), later, surpassed him, as well as the Australian Jack Miller (KTM RC 16) and the Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha YZR M 1).
Márquez established 1:45.298 as the best mark of the first classification before entering his workshop to prepare the second “time attack”, in which he had 456 thousandths of a second over his immediate pursuer, Morbidelli, who was surpassed by Jack Miller and Maverick Vinales.
Alex Márquez improved his personal time by a few thousandths of a second, 1:45.231, to guarantee his place in second place, along with Jack Miller, who beat Maverick Viñales by 32 thousandths of a second.
Fabio Quartararo was left out of the second classification -fifteenth- and the Spanish Raúl Fernández suffered a second fall, who will start twentieth, with Augusto Fernández in twenty-first position.
In the second classification there was soon news with the fall of the Italian Enea Bastianini (Ducati Desmosedici GP23), who had to run back to his workshop to try to continue the classification.
But the strategy of Marc Márquez (Honda RC 213 V) of following in the footsteps of other pilots, once again had an effect, as he “hooked” to the wheel of the Italian Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati Desmosedici GP22) to get the second and first times respectively
Both were surpassed in their third lap by the Spanish Jorge MartÃn (Ducati Desmosedici GP23), who rolled in 1:45.268, with 104 thousandths over Bezzecchi and 138 thousandths over Márquez, while the world championship leader, “Pecco” Bagnaia, had problems with his first tire and finished twelfth the first time out on track.
In the second start, Marc Márquez once again tried to get behind Marco Bezzecchi, but came out just as “Pecco” Bagnaia braked at the end of the straight, who angrily recriminated the Spaniard’s attitude, while in the third sector he was going the South African Brad Binder (KTM RC 16) crashed.
Marquez achieved his goal. He “hooked” Bagnaia and rose to second position, just behind the world championship leader, both relegating Jorge MartÃn to third place, which was fifth when he was beaten by both Alex Márquez and Jack Miller.
Aleix Espargaró managed to finish in seventh position, behind Marco Bezzecchi and ahead of Johann Zarco, Alex Rins, Brad Binder, Luca Marini and Enea Bastinini.
