Aspar Ducati’s Yonny Hernandez has topped the opening MotoGP free practice session on a damo track at Mugello as Michelin’s intermediate tyres made their championship debut.
Britain’s Scott Redding was the first man to use the intermediate rear coupled with a wet front as the Italian circuit dried out and topped the timesheets until Hernandez appeared with inters front and rear, and immediately snatched top spot with a 1’54.199 compared to Redding’s 1’54.973.
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow, who also briefly held the fastest lap time, ended in third place with a 1’55.334, 1.135s slower than Hernandez with Bradley Smith in fourth and Michele Pirro in fifth.
Valentino Rossi made a couple of appearances in front of his home crowd, carrying out four practice etarts on full wet tyres but not completing a full flying lap. Movistar Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo didn’t bother coming out of his garage, while Marc Marquez also did a couple of practice starts, two on intermediates.