MotoGP had to cancel its visit to Mugello in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to ongoing restrictions, the Italian GP had to be held behind closed doors for the first time in 2021.
Michele Pirro, who was frequently in Mugello in his role as Ducati test rider, set the early pace for the Pramac Ducati when he replaced the injured Jorge Martin.
Pirro’s initial effort of 1: 49.103 minutes was immediately improved to 1: 48.459 seconds before the Italian dropped below the 1: 48 mark to 1: 47.945 seconds.
A few moments later, championship leader Fabio Quartararo took first place on his factory Yamaha with a time of 1: 47.566 minutes, but was soon relegated to teammate Vinales.
Vinales, who became a father for the first time ahead of the Italian GP, improved his benchmark to 1: 47.130 minutes after just over 15 minutes had passed.
That was the time to beat until the final five minutes when Suzuki’s Alex Rins advanced for a time attack with a time of 1: 47.085 minutes ahead of a fresh mid-tail.
Rins improved to 1: 46.952 seconds on his following tour, though it would be Vinales who would see the session fastest on death on a number of fresh media after shooting in a late time of 1: 46.593 minutes.
A late improvement for Pramac’s Johann Zarco on the Ducati put him in second place, 0.209 seconds behind Vinales, while Rins completed the top three.
Reigning world champion Joan Mir supported Suzuki’s solid start in the Italian GP as fourth on his GSX-RR ahead of Franco Morbidelli of Petronas SRT on his A-Spec Yamaha.
Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia was sixth ahead of Pirro and Quartararo. The French GP winner Jack Miller from sister factory team Ducati and Miguel Oliveira from KTM rounded off the top 10.
Honda’s Marc Marquez started his GP weekend in Italy steadily as he battled pain in his right shoulder. On Thursday in Mugello, he announced that he had considered pausing his comeback after the Spanish GP.
Marquez was in 16th place ahead of home hero Valentino Rossi on the second SRT M1 1.6 seconds off the pace as he begins a “very important” phase of the season in deciding his MotoGP future.