Italian GP – EL2: Bagnaia tough, Quartararo disillusioned

• We weren't giving much of Francesco Bagnaia this weekend, the reigning World Champion not considering himself to be at 100% of his abilities. And yet, the Italian ends this first day at Mugello at the top of the ranking.
• The second practice session on Friday is essential with a balance to be found between the in-depth work in preparation for the two races of the weekend and the hunt for the time. A place among the top ten is in fact the assurance of entering directly into Q2 tomorrow morning and securing a good place on both starting grids.
• Johann Zarco calmly secured a place in Q2 by taking 7th place. Hard blow on the other hand for fabio quartararo who after a good session this morning sank in the rankings this afternoon. Only 15th, 3 tenths of a second behind the Top 10, and 7 tenths behind Bagnaia, the observation is cruel and clear for Yamaha.
• Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia started the session with a small scare without consequences at the end of the long straight. This Dantesque braking which takes the machines from 360 to less than 100 km/h in just a few meters is a real piece of bravery.
• Subscribed to the bottom of the ranking, Joan Mir made a mistake in the middle of the session. Not ideal for reassuring himself while his teammate Marc Márquez performs miracles on the reluctant Honda at the cost of perilous driving... which earned him a fall 10 minutes from the end of the session.

A big mistake from @marcmarquez93! 💥

He's on the fringes of the Q2 places and now has to get back to the pits before time runs out! 😮#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/25xYfMbPGo

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) June 9, 2023

• After 50 studious minutes, the drivers began the hunt for the time, shattering the morning's reference times despite a warmer and seemingly slower track.

See you tomorrow at 10:10 a.m. for the last free practice session and 10:50 a.m. for the start of qualifying.

Classification of the second practice session of the Italian Grand Prix MotoGP

ALSO READ > The MotoGP Program for the 2023 Italian GP