Dovizioso leads FP1 at Misano with Marquez, Rossi off pace
Full MotoGP FP1 results from Misano
Andrea Dovizioso has topped the opening free practice session at Misano for Ducati while MotoGP world championship top two Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi both miss out on the top 10.
Full MotoGP FP1 results from Misano
Andrea Dovizioso has topped the opening free practice session at Misano for Ducati while MotoGP world championship top two Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi both miss out on the top 10.
With rain forecast intermittently this weekend at Misano, a number of riders targeted a last fast lap to provisionally take a top 10 spot in dry and sunny conditions for FP1.
Dovizioso, usually a rider who opts against late quick times to focus on race setup on Fridays, bolted to the top with a 1m 32.608s for Ducati to lead the times by one-tenth of a second from LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow.
After a promising showing in the dry at Silverstone, Movistar Yamaha’s Maverick Vinales continues his resurgence with third place in the morning session ahead of Jorge Lorenzo on the factory Ducati and Suzuki’s Andrea Iannone.
Jack Miller survived a late crash for Pramac Ducati to hold on to sixth place ahead of Repsol Honda’s Dani Pedrosa and Monster Yamaha Tech 3’s Johann Zarco.
Danilo Petrucci (Pramac Ducati) and Franco Morbidelli (Marc VDS Honda) rounded out the top 10 to make both championship leader Marquez and nearest title rival Rossi miss out in 13th and 15th respectively.
Scott Redding, who has lost out on the Aprilia test rider role to Bradley Smith which was confirmed before the start of FP1, grabbed an impressive 11th place in the morning session ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Angel Nieto Ducati) to edge in front of Marquez on the Repsol Honda.
Suzuki’s Rins split Marquez to Rossi with Ducati wildcard Michele Pirro in 16th place.
Pol Espargaro made his comeback from injury sustained in Brno last month by completing FP1 in 21st for Red Bull KTM while Avintia Ducati replacement rider Christophe Ponsson ended the session at the bottom of the times and almost five seconds off nearest rival Hafizh Syahrin (Tech 3).
Ponsson has been called up to fill in for injured rider Tito Rabat and is competing on Xavier Simeon's GP16 bike, with the Belgian rider on Rabat's GP17.
