MotoGP San Marino GP: Bagnaia swoops to lead practice at Misano

MotoGP world champion Francesco Bagnaia has responded to recent form threats from Marc Marquez and Jorge Martin to set the fastest lap at Misano on Friday.

Bagnaia was quickest in hot afternoon temperatures at the San Marino Grand Prix and his home circuit where he won MotoGP races in 2021 and 2022. The Italian is still struggling to change direction smoothly on the GP24 after his crash in Aragon last Sunday and waited until the final minutes to clock a time just three-tenths of a second from the lap record, set by Martin last year.

Martin, the current championship leader, was third fastest and less than three tenths behind his main title rival, with Marc Marquez splitting the pair in second. The Catalan is competing at the venue of his previous win in 2021 with Honda – having ended his win drought last weekend at Aragon.

Franco Morbidelli claimed the San Marino GP in 2020 and was able to enter the top 10 and therefore also Q2 with his last flying effort. The Italian placed leapt up to fourth place and registered his lap time in spite of a crash by Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro that activated yellow lights and flags through Turn 1 and Turn 2 with less than two minutes to go.

In fifth was Bagnaia’s team-mate Enea Bastianini who classified ahead of Tech3’s Pedro Acosta in sixth – the first of the non-Ducati riders.

The Spaniard initially fronted the session by matching the best lap times from FP1, but then had a slow speed crash into Turn 8, one of only six left hand corners at the historic layout, with seven minutes of the session remaining.

Pedro Acosta, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

Another local, Marco Bezzecchi, was seventh for VR46 Ducati with Maverick Viñales as the first of the Aprilia quartet in eighth.

Fabio Quartararo hovered in the top 10 for most of the session despite a glitch with a swingarm wing that snapped off his Yamaha on the approach to Turn 8 as well as several off-track or off-line excursions. The Frenchman produced his most competitive practice pace of the season for ninth place and a Q2 spot.

Jack Miller grabbed a tow from Bagnaia to occupy 10th and the last Q2 spot, but KTM team-mate Brad Binder was 11th and the main victim of Morbidelli’s last-gasp effort, and being dumped out of the top 10 in the dying seconds means the South African has work to do in order to burst out of Q1 on Saturday morning.

Aleix Espargaro led his younger brother Pol, as the siblings settled in 12th and 13th for Aprilia and KTM respectively, with Miguel Oliveira 14th for Trackhouse Aprilia.

Honda could again count on Johann Zarco as its leading rider on the RC213V, as factory rider Joan Mir missed the Friday action due to a stomach virus, but he should be able to join Q1 tomorrow.

MotoGP San Marino GP - FP2 results

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Rider	#		Bike	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h	Speed Trap
1	F. Bagnaia Ducati Team	1		Ducati	23	1'30.685		167.842	296
2	M. Marquez Gresini Racing	93		Ducati	27	+0.185 1'30.870	0.185	167.500	297
3	J. Martin Pramac Racing	89		Ducati	27	+0.281 1'30.966	0.096	167.324	296
4	F. Morbidelli Pramac Racing	21		Ducati	25	+0.282 1'30.967	0.001	167.322	297
5	E. Bastianini Ducati Team	23		Ducati	23	+0.382 1'31.067	0.100	167.138	296
6	P. Acosta Tech 3	31		KTM	24	+0.518 1'31.203	0.136	166.889	298
7	M. Bezzecchi Team VR46	72		Ducati	27	+0.544 1'31.229	0.026	166.841	297
8	M. Viñales Aprilia Racing Team	12		Aprilia	27	+0.616 1'31.301	0.072	166.710	297
9	F. Quartararo Yamaha Factory Racing	20		Yamaha	30	+0.628 1'31.313	0.012	166.688	290
10	J. Miller Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	43		KTM	27	+0.635 1'31.320	0.007	166.675	296
11	B. Binder Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	33		KTM	23	+0.737 1'31.422	0.102	166.489	297
12	A. Espargaro Aprilia Racing Team	41		Aprilia	20	+0.748 1'31.433	0.011	166.469	294
13	P. Espargaro Red Bull KTM Factory Racing	44		KTM	19	+0.749 1'31.434	0.001	166.467	295
14	M. Oliveira Trackhouse Racing Team	88		Aprilia	25	+1.039 1'31.724	0.290	165.941	296
15	J. Zarco Team LCR	5		Honda	24	+1.050 1'31.735	0.011	165.921	295
16	F. Di Giannantonio Team VR46	49		Ducati	22	+1.094 1'31.779	0.044	165.841	290
17	A. Rins Yamaha Factory Racing	42		Yamaha	24	+1.201 1'31.886	0.107	165.648	293
18	A. Marquez Gresini Racing	73		Ducati	25	+1.223 1'31.908	0.022	165.609	294
19	A. Fernandez Tech 3	37		KTM	23	+1.276 1'31.961	0.053	165.513	295
20	T. Nakagami Team LCR	30		Honda	25	+1.523 1'32.208	0.247	165.070	291
21	R. Fernández Trackhouse Racing Team	25		Aprilia	20	+1.542 1'32.227	0.019	165.036	295
22	L. Marini Repsol Honda Team	10		Honda	24	+1.703 1'32.388	0.161	164.748	294
23	S. Bradl HRC Test Team	6		Honda	20	+3.131 1'33.816	1.428	162.240	291
24	J. Mir Repsol Honda Team	36		Honda	0
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