Italian MotoGP: Vinales tops first practice on return to Mugello

MotoGP had to cancel its visit to Mugello in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with continued restrictions forcing the 2021 Italian GP to be held behind closed doors for the first time.

A frequent visitor to Mugello in his role as Ducati test rider, Michele Pirro set the early pace on the Pramac Ducati as he steps in to replace the injured Jorge Martin.

Pirro’s initial effort of 1m49.103s was immediately bettered by himself to a 1m48.459s, before the Italian dipped underneath the 1m48s barrier to a 1m47.945s.

A few moments later championship leader Fabio Quartararo took over top spot on his factory Yamaha with a 1m47.566s, though was soon deposed by team-mate Vinales.

Vinales – who became a father for the first time ahead of the Italian GP – improved his benchmark to a 1m47.130s with just over 15 minutes of the session gone.

This stood as the time to beat until the closing five minutes, when Suzuki’s Alex Rins edged ahead with a 1m47.085s having gone out on a fresh medium rear for a time attack.

Rins improved on his following tour to a 1m46.952s, though it would be Vinales on a set of fresh mediums at the death who would see out the session fastest after firing in a late 1m46.593s.

A late improvement for Pramac’s Johann Zarco on the Ducati lifted him up to second, 0.209 seconds behind Vinales, while Rins completed the top three.

Johann Zarco, Pramac Racing

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Reigning world champion Joan Mir backed up Suzuki’s solid start to the Italian GP in fourth on his GSX-RR ahead of Petronas SRT’s Franco Morbidelli on his ‘A-spec’ Yamaha.

Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia was sixth ahead of Pirro and Quartararo, with French GP winner Jack Miller on the sister factory team Ducati and KTM’s Miguel Oliveira rounding out the top 10.

Honda’s Marc Marquez made a steady start to his Italian GP weekend as he battles pain in his right shoulder, revealing on Thursday at Mugello that he had considered pausing his comeback after the Spanish GP.

Marquez was 1.6s off the pace in 16th ahead of home hero Valentino Rossi on the second SRT M1 as he begins a “very important” phase in the season in deciding his MotoGP future.

MotoGP Italian GP - FP1 results

Cla	Rider	Bike	Laps	Time	Gap
1	Maverick Viñales	Yamaha	20	1'46.593
2	Johann Zarco	Ducati	18	1'46.802	0.209
3	Alex Rins	Suzuki	19	1'46.952	0.359
4	Joan Mir	Suzuki	19	1'47.176	0.583
5	Franco Morbidelli	Yamaha	18	1'47.184	0.591
6	Francesco Bagnaia	Ducati	18	1'47.186	0.593
7	Michele Pirro	Honda	16	1'47.555	0.962
8	Fabio Quartararo	Yamaha	18	1'47.566	0.973
9	Jack Miller	Ducati	20	1'47.716	1.123
10	Miguel Oliveira	KTM	17	1'47.748	1.155
11	Takaaki Nakagami	Honda	14	1'47.791	1.198
12	Pol Espargaro	Honda	18	1'47.870	1.277
13	Aleix Espargaro	Aprilia	17	1'47.992	1.399
14	Brad Binder	KTM	18	1'48.049	1.456
15	Luca Marini	Ducati	17	1'48.128	1.535
16	Marc Marquez	Honda	19	1'48.277	1.684
17	Valentino Rossi	Yamaha	19	1'48.302	1.709
18	Danilo Petrucci	KTM	20	1'48.319	1.726
19	Alex Marquez	Honda	19	1'48.375	1.782
20	Lorenzo Savadori	Aprilia	18	1'48.734	2.141
21	Enea Bastianini	Ducati	19	1'48.967	2.374
22	Iker Lecuona	KTM	18	1'48.997	2.404
View full results