Vinales leads Yamaha 1-2 in Friday practice at Misano

Maverick Vinales
Maverick Vinales

Unlucky Friday 13th? Not for Yamaha at the GP Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini after Maverick Vinales (Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP) topped the Friday times from Fabio Quartararo (Petronas Yamaha SRT), with Valentino Rossi and Franco Morbidelli joining their teammates in the top five at Misano.

FP2 saw Vinales and Quartararo set the pace as the duo were split by a slender 0.057, the Spaniard and Frenchman sitting over three tenths clear of their nearest competitor – Marc Marquez (Repsol Honda Team). Yamaha have seemingly picked up where they left off at the Misano Test and speaking after Friday’s track action, Vinales explains how he hit the ground running from the word go in FP1.

“I felt really good straight away this morning," began a happy Vinales. “We tried new things in the afternoon, but it’s not clear if they are better so we came back [to our usual configuration], we rode as we always do. I found a really good grip with the new tire and I felt really good. It was very positive, so we’ll try to keep the same mindset and keep working."

Both Vinales and Rossi tested several new parts at the test, and both we seen using those on Friday. One of those was the Suzuki-style duel exhaust, something Rossi used throughout Friday, but an item Vinales didn’t: “It still needs more laps, a better understanding, and then we’ll see. We will continue working on it in Aragon FP1 and then we’ll see. Right now, we haven’t discarded anything, because there are positives and negatives, but we still need more laps."

Friday Practice Results

Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 VINALES Maverick 12 SPA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 1'32.775
2 QUARTARARO Fabio 20 FRA Petronas Yamaha SRT 0.057
3 MARQUEZ Marc 93 SPA Repsol Honda Team 0.396
4 ROSSI Valentino 46 ITA Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP 0.695
5 MORBIDELLI Franco 21 ITA Petronas Yamaha SRT 0.749
6 ESPARGARO Pol 44 SPA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 0.849
7 PIRRO Michele 51 ITA Ducati Team 0.929
8 PETRUCCI Danilo 9 ITA Ducati Team 0.953
9 ESPARGARO Aleix 41 SPA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 0.987
10 DOVIZIOSO Andrea 4 ITA Ducati Team 1.051
11 RINS Alex 42 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar 1.099
12 CRUTCHLOW Cal 35 GBR LCR Honda 1.132
13 ZARCO Johann 5 FRA Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 1.181
14 NAKAGAMI Takaaki 30 JPN LCR Honda 1.223
15 BAGNAIA Francesco 63 ITA Pramac Racing 1.228
16 MILLER Jack 43 AUS Pramac Racing 1.295
17 LORENZO Jorge 99 SPA Repsol Honda Team 1.364
18 RABAT Tito 53 SPA Reale Avintia Racing 1.431
19 MIR Joan 36 SPA Team Suzuki Ecstar 1.454
20 OLIVEIRA Miguel 88 POR Red Bull KTM Tech 3 1.587
21 IANNONE Andrea 29 ITA Aprilia Racing Team Gresini 1.606
22 ABRAHAM Karel 17 CZE Reale Avintia Racing 2.068
23 SYAHRIN Hafizh 55 MAL Red Bull KTM Tech 3 2.160