Iannone stays top as Pirro suffers nasty crash
Andrea Iannone has topped the second free practice at Mugello at the Italian MotoGP in a session which saw two red flags with the first triggered by a scary crash for Ducati’s Michele Pirro.
Pirro, who is a wildcard for the factory Ducati squad this weekend, ended the morning session second fastest but had his FP2 halted after suffering a possible brake issue with his Ducati which saw the Italian fired off his bike at the heavy braking zone at Turn 1 in a huge crash.
Andrea Iannone has topped the second free practice at Mugello at the Italian MotoGP in a session which saw two red flags with the first triggered by a scary crash for Ducati’s Michele Pirro.
Pirro, who is a wildcard for the factory Ducati squad this weekend, ended the morning session second fastest but had his FP2 halted after suffering a possible brake issue with his Ducati which saw the Italian fired off his bike at the heavy braking zone at Turn 1 in a huge crash.
The Italian rider appeared to be knocked out by the fall, before regaining consciousness while being attended to by trackside medics, and has been taken to Florence hospital for checks on a possible shoulder injury.
Ducati suffered double heartache when Andrea Dovizioso’s engine blew up on the long start/finish straight just minutes after the first restart which caused a second red flag stoppage to allow race officials to check for any fluid spilt on the track by the Italian’s wrecked engine.
After the second restart just over 20 minutes remained in the afternoon session which hosted relatively low key incidents after Ducati’s drama as Iannone took the opportunity to reclaim top spot for Suzuki on the weekend he confirmed he would be leaving the Japanese manufacturer at the end of this year.
Iannone saw off a late lap by Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales to take top spot with a 1m 46.735s, with Vinales showing a revitalised charge after a difficult start to the season, while MotoGP world championship leader Marc Marquez slotting into third place for Repsol Honda despite a small lowside off at Turn 4 midway through the session.
Johann Zarco produced a low-key start to his race weekend after the intense focus from his home round at Le Mans last time out and has finished FP2 in fourth place for Tech3.
Jack Miller secured fifth place for Pramac Ducati, the surprise top Ducati rider on the GP17, just in front of LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow.
Marc VDS Honda’s star rookie Franco Morbidelli continues to impress with eighth place in FP2 ahead of his home debut in MotoGP as Pramac Ducati’s Danilo Petrucci and Ducati’s Jorge Lorenzo completed the top ten.
