KTM’s Miguel Oliveira set the early pace at the start of FP2 with 1: 47.185 minutes before setting the best lap of the day with 1: 46.584 minutes and leading the combined time.
After a tough start to the 2021 season, KTM has come to Mugello with a new chassis for its factory riders, which was first tested at the post-race test in Jerez.
Oliveira’s lead at the top of the individual FP2 timesheet was reduced to 0.064 seconds by Ducatis Bagnaia, although large lap time improvements were rare for much of the session as the field focused on racing.
As the session closed, the timing screen began to glow, even though heavy traffic forced drivers like Fabio Quartararo, Vinales and Joan Mir to abandon laps.
Rins didn’t have that kind of problem with just over a minute to go to be the fastest of them all at 1: 46.218, although he wouldn’t stay in the lead for long.
A late improvement for Bagnaia on the factory Ducati of 1: 46.147 minutes shot him up the order to finish the day ahead of Rins fastest.
Franco Morbidelli – despite a Petronas SRT M1 with almost 20 km / h loss of power on the straight – jumped in the end with 1: 46.331 minutes to third place and displaced Quartararo to fourth place.
KTM’s form recovery continued in the final stages of FP2, with Brad Binder improving to fifth place ahead of teammate Oliveira.
Takaaki Nakagami was the best Honda runner in seventh place on his LCR machine, while Aleix Espargaro was eighth on the Aprilia, ahead of the Ducati couple Jack Miller and Pramacs Johann Zarco.
I ended up in 11th place 0.7 seconds behind the pace, ahead of the Honda factory couple Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro.
A late mistake in the fast right turn in Turn 9 in Arrabbiata 2 for Vinales meant that he could not improve to 17th place in FP2.
However, his 1: 46.593 minutes from FP1 was good enough to keep him in eighth place in the combined time and occupy a provisional Q2 spot that will advance into Saturday.
Valentino Rossi’s return home has been a miserable affair so far, the SRT rider ran twice in FP2 in San Donato on the way to 21st and 1.5 seconds behind the pace.
Only Tech 3’s Iker Lecuona was slower than Rossi after Friday’s race.