Petronas’ Franky Morbidelli claimed the third fastest time of Friday’s ItalianGP practice, just 0.18s from first, despite registering slowest through the Mugello speed traps.

18 km/h was the Yamaha M1's deficit to Michele Pirro’s 357.6 km/h as Morbidelli returned to the stunning Tuscan track for the first time since 2019, with the Italian navigating the 5.2km layout with ease across the opening day’s two 45-minute sessions. 

Sitting fifth after FP1, the Roman utilised FP2 to work on a longer run on used tyres before returning with a time attack in the closing minutes. His 1’46.331, set on his final lap, placed him third overall and seemingly confident ahead of Saturday’s final push before qualifying. 

“A good way to start the weekend here in Mugello” Morbidelli said after the afternoon practice concluded. 

“It felt great to ride again here. It's really impressive to ride in Mugello, and I had fun, I had a lot of fun today! Moreover, I was fast with the soft tyre, and I'm happy about that. We need to work a little bit more to see how we are with used tyres, but I think that so far, so good, we started well.”

Reflecting on the speed defect, the Italian admitted: “It’s a shocking number, but it’s not as shocking [when compared to] the difference with the last fastest bike, then the difference today was just five km's. 

"I'm happy to see myself in third position, especially when I look at the speed chart. I see myself so far from the top but also so far from the bottom, it gives me pride. I realise that we are doing something great and this gives me confidence and energy to keep working and to try to do great things. Maybe the great things that we are doing, will not always be reflected on the chart but I can assure you that we are doing great things.

“Here in Mugello it seems that we are struggling a bit more compared to usual, we are working already to find some ways to improve on that. I hope that we will manage to improve a little bit more. 

“Strangely today it was tricky to have a clean lap, and many people were waiting for some tows around the track. Mugello is a track that if you have a reference you can make a lot of difference, it's not just about slipstreaming it's about reference, and it's about going through a line that you already saw so it can make a lot of difference and so maybe for this reason, there was many people sitting around the track today.

“The medium tyre was working very well. We didn't try the hard and we tried the soft for just one lap so the choice is not clear yet, but today we worked a little bit more on the medium. The faster you go in Mugello, the smoother it feels, this is true. The problem is that to go fast, you need to push and sometimes it's not easy to find this fine balance.

“We have been looking at all the tiny details of the bike and I’ve been giving my maximum when I ride, I think with this combination we can do well. This home GP has a different feel and there is extra motivation to do well, although it is a big pity that there isn’t going to be a big crowd on the hill this weekend.”