Italian MotoGP | Bagnaia breaks Mugello record; no joy for Marquez, Rossi
Ducati rider Pecco Bagnaia smashes the Mugello lap record to bolster his status as the rider to beat in this weekend's Italian MotoGP
Pecco Bagnaia continued to stamp his mark on proceedings in the all-important third free practice session for the Italian MotoGP, round six of the 2021 MotoGP World Championship.
The Italian is yet to win a race in MotoGP but is currently second in the overall standings after a strong start to his first factory Ducati season, with all signs pointing to his home round being ‘his’ weekend on a bike that traditionally goes well at Mugello.
Breaking the lap record in the process, Bagnaia headed off series leader Fabio Quartararo by two tenths of a second, with Brad Binder starring towards the end of the session - helped in part by a handy tow from Luca Marini - on the KTM for his best Saturday morning performance in MotoGP yet.
Jack Miller and Johann Zarco made the most of their top speed superior Ducati GP21s to secure a spot in Q2 in fourth and fifth as expected, with Alex Rins and Joan Mir giving Suzuki some joy with a somewhat rare positive FP3 showing in sixth and eighth respectively.
Splitting them in seventh was Miguel Oliveira, seemingly confirming a big step forward for KTM this weekend in what has been a difficult start to the year for the Austrian outfit.
Pol Espargaro is the only Honda rider inside the top ten in what will be a confidence boosting result, while Franco Morbidelli sneaked into Q2 as well despite what he described as a ‘shocking’ 20km/h top speed deficit.
There remains two Q2 places up for grabs in Q1, which means there will be some top riders destined to miss out. These include Maverick Vinales, who crashed late on at Turn 12 to leave him 11th, Marc Marquez, who could only muster 12th best and Valentino Rossi, whose dismal weekend shows little signs of improvement in 18th.
2021 Italian MotoGP - Free Practice Results [FP1-FP2-FP3 Combined]
| 2021 Italian MotoGP FP1-FP2-FP3 Results [Combined] | Mugello | Round 6 / 19 | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat. | MotoGP Team | MotoGP Bike | Timing |
| 1 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati GP21 | 1m 45.456 |
| 2 | Fabio Quartararo | FRA | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1m 45.613 |
| 3 | Brad Binder | RSA | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM RC16 | 1m 45.652 |
| 4 | Jack Miller | AUS | Ducati Lenovo Team | Ducati GP21 | 1m 45.701 |
| 5 | Johann Zarco | FRA | Pramac Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1m 45.725 |
| 6 | Alex Rins | ESP | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1m 45.754 |
| 7 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | KTM RC16 | 1m 45.791 |
| 8 | Joan Mir | ESP | Team Suzuki Ecstar | Suzuki GSX-RR | 1m 45.925 |
| 9 | Pol Espargaro | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda RC213V | 1m 45.828 |
| 10 | Franco Morbidelli | ITA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1m 45.865 |
| 11 | Maverick Vinales | ESP | Monster Energy Yamaha | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1m 45.895 |
| 12 | Marc Marquez | ESP | Repsol Honda Team | Honda RC213V | 1m 46.013 |
| 13 | Aleix Espargaro | ESP | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia RS-GP | 1m 46.015 |
| 14 | Michele Pirro | ESP | Pramac Racing | Ducati GP21 | 1m 46.103 |
| 15 | Takaaki Nakagami | JPN | LCR Honda Idemitsu | Honda RC213V | 1m 46.311 |
| 16 | Luca Marini | ITA | Sky VR46 Esponsorama | Ducati GP19 | 1m 46.332 |
| 17 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM RC16 | 1m 46.355 |
| 18 | Valentino Rossi | ITA | Petronas Yamaha SRT | Yamaha YZF-M1 | 1m 46.358 |
| 19 | Lorenzo Savadori | ITA | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | Aprilia RS-GP | 1m 46.447 |
| 20 | Enea Bastianini | ITA | Avintia Esponsorama | Ducati GP19 | 1m 46.627 |
| 21 | Alex Marquez | ESP | LCR Honda Castrol | Honda RC213V | 1m 46.853 |
| 22 | Iker Lecuona | ESP | Tech3 KTM Factory Racing | KTM RC16 | 1m 47.247 |
Bold indicates straight through to Q2. Rest will attempt to secure final two Q2 spots via Q1.
