Vinales leads Yamaha 1-2 in Friday practice at Misano
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 |