09/17/2021 |
Christina Bulpett |
MotoGP
Image: GeeBee Pictures
Maverick Viñales showed he was serious after his recent move to Aprilia by taking the FP1 standings on Friday with a lap of 1: 32.666.
Rain interrupted play in the final third of the first 45-minute session, with Suzuki’s Joan Mir and MotorLand Aragón winner Pecco Bagnaia holding the top three.
The action at Misano started with a touch of pit lane excitement when Andrea Dovizioso enjoyed his first touch with the Petronas SRT M1. Franky Morbidelli did the same on his return in Monster Energy colors. Stefan Bradl is also adding to the grid on a Repsol Honda Wildcard ahead of next week’s test.
Takaaki Nakagami took the lead on his third lap of the 4.2km course before times began to drop. Ducati test driver Michele Pirro prevailed after the first shuffle thanks to a 1: 33.727.
The latest test experience also seemed to be a bonus for the new Aprilia rider Viñales as the Spaniard finished second before he and his RS-GP partner Aleix Espargaro led the overall standings in quick succession next time.
Johann Zarco was third out of two Suzukis, followed by Fabio Quartararo in sixth, before Marc Marquez arrived, 0.002 seconds faster than Espargaro. The top eight were covered in less than half a second when Bagnaia entered the group in sixth, Alex Rins shared Aprilia in third.
Viñales showed confident form as he again led the overall standings. This time there was a 1’32.966 time to beat. Enea Bastianini proved that his performance in Aragón was far from unique when he finished sixth on his home track.
Dovizioso circulated three seconds behind after 15 minutes on the track before the Italian returned to the penalty area, while his team-mate Valentino Rossi halved the deficit to 21st place.
Last weekend’s winner returned to his dominant position after the opening run and increased the pace to 1’32.801. His Ducati team-mate Jack Miller followed in second place, just 0.058 seconds behind. As the leader of the standings, Quartararo seemed to be struggling a bit with grip in eighth place.
As the session continued, dark clouds loomed over us. Viñales refined his performance in third before Mir reached the top with 17 minutes to go. HRC was in action when the trio finished sixth, eighth and ninth in the final quarter of an hour.
Viñales reached the top again 15 minutes before the end, 1’32.666 the new benchmark, with only two tenths between the top 5 in the final phase.
Bagnaia finally returned to action after 13 minutes, although it was short-lived, the rain began to make itself felt at the same time and hit hard within seconds.
Five to go, the drivers set off again to take a careful look, Rins, Mir and Pol Espargaro were the first to set out, but little with torrential rain that left rivers across the route was to be won.
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