Maverick Viñales Surprises Ducati at Mugello

During the current MotoGP World Championship, it is considered a surprise when a Ducati is not leading the timesheets. On the opening day of the Italian GP at the Mugello International Circuit, there was a double surprise, as the morning's first free practice was dominated by Marco Bezzecchi's Aprilia, and the afternoon session was led by Maverick Viñales on his KTM.

In the afternoon practice, the rider from Girona flew on the Austrian MotoGP bike in the final moments when everyone had already switched to soft tyres to secure a direct spot in Saturday's Q2. His final time placed him ahead of the championship's top three, Bagnaia, Marc, and Álex Márquez, who finished in that order.

This was the first time this year that Viñales led a practice session during a grand prix, but not the first time he topped a classification with KTM. During the post-GP Aragón test on Monday, the Spaniard was also the fastest, indicating a clear upward trend in his adaptation to his new team. "It's obvious we've made a step forward that we already took in the test, but it was important to reconfirm it here. We are maintaining the results from the last races. The potential is visible, the project is growing, but it requires time and patience," Viñales commented after dominating Friday. "My statistics with KTM show that I'm always stronger on Sundays, so we need to keep working and trust," he optimistically stated about replicating this result in the race.

With Viñales as a clear 'outsider' and the KTMs setting the top speed on the straight, the favourites remain in Ducati red, except for Álex Márquez's sky blue. The first day of practice left a sense of technical tie in terms of pace and fast lap among the three contenders, separated by just 43 thousandths. This situation had not been seen this year, making this Italian GP the most unpredictable of the season so far.

Both Bagnaia and Marc Márquez spent much of Friday testing parts that Ducati brought to Mugello after the Aragón test, including a new aerodynamic fairing that left some doubts for the Spaniard, who will not use it again over the weekend. In terms of pace, the current MotoGP leader prefers to keep a low profile, conceding favouritism on a track where he hasn't won since 2014. "The goal was to be close to Álex and Pecco, who are the rivals for the championship, and I was. In terms of pace, maybe Álex was slightly ahead of us, so tomorrow's goal will be to take a step closer to Álex," explained the rider from Cervera, focusing more on defending his lead than attacking.

Another notable name on Friday was Fabio Quartararo, who suffered a nasty crash at the start of the afternoon session, dislocating his left shoulder. He put it back in place himself in the gravel, and despite the pain, the Frenchman continued the entire session to finish fifth before heading to a Florence hospital for an MRI to assess the extent of his injury. Aside from the crash, it was a good Friday for Yamaha, as his teammate Álex Rins qualified seventh, with the only Aprilia directly qualifying for Q2, Marco Bezzecchi, in between.

The eighth place for Pedro Acosta was somewhat disappointing for the Murcian, as he had been among the best all day, but he achieved the goal of finishing in the top ten and avoiding the Q1 repechage. The top-10 was completed by the Ducatis of Franco Morbidelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio, while the defeated were the Hondas, with Joan Mir's 16th place being their best result.

Czech Filip Salac led the Moto2 practice with a strong Manu González in third and a hesitant Arón Canet in 14th, narrowly qualifying for Q2. Both lead the intermediate category tied on points, with the Madrid rider currently a step ahead of the Valencian. Meanwhile, in Moto3, the best time of the day went to the Manchego David Almansa, with the dominant rider of the small displacement, José Antonio Rueda, in tenth.