Bagnaia second and Miller third after Friday’s free practice for the San Marino GP
Four Desmosedici machines in front of everyone on the first day of Ducati’s second home round at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli with Bastianini first, ahead of Bagnaia, Miller and Zarco.
Ducati Lenovo Team riders Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller finished in second and third position on Friday’s free practice for the San Marino GP, the second home round for the Borgo Panigale-based squad, held this weekend at the Misano Adriatico circuit.
After picking up a three-grid penalty for Sunday’s race for inadvertently slowing down two other riders in FP1, Pecco also suffered a crash in the early stages of FP2, but that did not prevent him from closing out his Friday on a positive note. After returning to the track for a final time attack, the Italian rider was, in fact, able to post the second fastest time of the day in 1:31.631, 114 thousandths of a second behind Enea Bastianini, first with the Desmosedici GP of the Gresini Racing team.
Jack also had an excellent first day at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. After closing FP1 with the second best time, the Australian rider continued to be quick in the afternoon, finishing third behind his teammate. Completing an all-Ducati quartet, Johann Zarco (Pramac Racing) set the fourth fastest time, 135 thousandths behind Miller.
Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 2nd (1:31.631)
“Friday certainly didn’t start as we expected: this morning in FP1, I slowed down a lap early, thinking I had taken the chequered flag, and I was rightly penalised. In the afternoon, I crashed after touching the white line. Despite that, I managed to be fast straight away and finish the day on a positive note, setting the fastest time. Now it will be crucial to do a good qualifying because, even if I get pole position, I will be forced to start from fourth on the grid because of the penalty.”
Jack Miller (#43 Ducati Lenovo Team) – 3rd (1:31.702)
“Being in the top ten today is definitely positive, considering that we don’t know what the weather will be like tomorrow morning in FP3. The bike is working well, and we haven’t had to change much; we just adapted the setup to the new track conditions, which have more bumps than before. After each outing, we made changes that allowed us to go in the right direction, and I also felt good with the rear medium tyre. Overall it was a positive first day, and I hope to continue this trend until Sunday”.
The Ducati Lenovo Team riders will be back on track tomorrow at 9:55am, Italian time for FP3, while qualifying for the San Marino GP will start at 2:10pm, at the end of FP4.
