Ducati Lenovo’s Pecco Bagnaia bounced back from a turn 12 crash to top MotoGP’s FP3 at Mugello on Saturday morning.
The Italian’s 1’45.393 effort sat three-tenths clear of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro and Mooney VR46’s Luca Marini as Ducati’s stellar talent bickered for dominance across the top ten throughout the 45-minute free practice.
Saturday morning welcomed the arrival of a second new livery of the weekend with Gresini Racing rolling out an Aldo Drudi design for the Italian Grand Prix to celebrate the Tuscan hills and a message of peace. Bagnaia unveiling his own dedicated helmet design for his home race.
As the track action heated up, Jack Miller suffered a mechanical on the second Lenovo GP22. The colourful Enea Bastianini headed the early times from LCR’s Takaaki Nakagami and rookie teammate Fabio di Giannantonio before Aruba.it Ducati’s Michele Pirro and Bagnaia battled for command.
Safely confirmed for the future, Aprilia’s two fighters arrived in first and fourth after ten minutes on track before Suzuki Ecstar’s Alex Rins stole the show. The current best one second adrift of Friday’s overall target as Bagnaia suffered a high speed crash at turn 12. Both man and bike reaching the air fence after a trip through the gravel with rider okay.
Prima Pramac’s Jorge Martin suffered another crash, this time at turn 10, as Ducati’s dismal Saturday continued. Miller hoping to salvage the situation with an early run on soft tyres as he promoted the GP22 to the lead of the session with a 1’46.776 before putting his head down once again. The Australian’s second machine continued to set the pace as he circulated with a 1’46.347, albeit still narrowly down on his FP2 effort. The top 17 still yet to improve on their Friday times at the halfway stage.
Joan Mir struggled to stop the Suzuki at turn one with 20 minutes on the clock, the 2020 Champion sitting 20th overall. Viñales, however, was on a roll as the Aprilia stormed the standings with a 1’46.121 to take third, just two-tenths shy of his teammate and outright leader and firmly in the middle of the two factory Ducatis. The ‘Top Gun’ demoting Nakagami out of Q2 contention despite the LCR rider setting his own personal best on lap 11.
Reigning MotoGP Champion Fabio Quartararo was the next to lose his place in the top ten as Mir improved to the gateway position with a 1’46.5. Bastianini firing up his own challenge as the final quarter of an hour began, to take fourth.
Quartararo promoted the M1 to sixth as the action kicked up another gear in the closing stages. Bagnaia blistering the lap with a 1’45.393 as the Ducati-powered Johann Zarco and Luca Marini joined Bastianini in the top six. The Yamaha rider frustrated by traffic and a front end moment as the clock counted down.
Marco Bezzecchi joined the Ducati fray on the Mooney VR46 with an impressive fourth place effort to head his five Bologna colleagues. Di Giannantonio striking with his own stunning 1’46.1 lap to sit two places ahead of his more experienced teammate and just 0.032s behind fellow rookie Bezzecchi. Improvements from Nakagami, to third, saw Quartararo out of Q2 with five to go. The LCR riders eating a 1’45.999 on his 14th attempt to split the Aprilia’s with fifth to tenths a full set for the Ducati.
Another impressive lap saw Luca Marini into second, just under four-tenths shy of Bagnaia out front, with Aleix Espargaro’s Friday effort holding fast in third. Miller on the bubble of contention having yet to improve.
Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro and Marc Marquez sat 16th and 17th with three minutes to go and the Ducatis struck again. Martin and Bezzecchi both taking turns in third before Espargaro fired up the RS-GP to retake the position.
The penultimate minute saw the standings shuffle in quick succession as the younger Espargaro brother entered the fight, in sixth, Bastianini demoting him down a position next time around with Zarco doing likewise as Viñales found himself cut adrift of promotion in the final minute despite his 1’46.060 best.
A late crash for Bastianini saw the Gresini down at the final corner with yellows waved as the chequered flag prepared. A mammoth effort on his left elbow failing to save the turn 15 fall with Darryn Binder following him into the gravel moments later.
Bagnaia’s 1’45.393 topped the standings as the dramatic session concluded. Espargaro and Marini his closest rivals with Quartararo narrowly through to the final shootout in tenth. Vinales, Rins, Miller and Mir facing the Q1 fight with Marquez a disappointing 21st.
