Top Riders Battle in Italy: Bagnaia Takes the Lead, Quartararo Struggles to Make Q2 Cut

Italian Riders Take Charge in FP2 at Mugello Circuit

The second free practice session for the Italian Grand Prix saw some intense action as riders battled for a spot in Q2. In a surprising twist, it was the Italian riders who took charge and dominated the timesheets.

Bagnaia Leads The Way After Early Struggles

Factory Ducati rider Francesco Bagnaia had a shaky start to the session, with an early off-track excursion at San Donato. But he quickly regained his composure and gradually improved his lap times. He eventually set a blistering time of 1m46.944s to finish third overall.

Bezzecchi Close Behind His Fellow Countryman

MotoGP rookie Marco Bezzecchi showed impressive pace throughout the session and finished just 0.063 seconds behind Bagnaia with a time of 1m45.499s on his VR46 Yamaha machine.

Rins Completes The Trio Of Fastest Riders

Alex Rins put up an impressive performance despite nearly colliding with Gresini’s Fabio Di Giannantonio earlier on during the session. The LCR Honda rider completed the top three positions with a fastest lap of 1m45.874s.

Quartararo Continues To Struggle On Factory Yamaha Bike

In stark contrast to last year’s race winner Danilo Petrucci who topped both Free Practice sessions yesterday, Fabio Quartararo continued to face difficulties on his factory Yamaha bike by finishing a lowly 15th overall. This marks the third race in a row that Quartararo has failed to go straight into Q2.

Marquez Returns To Form After Injury

Marc Marquez, who suffered injuries from his crash at Jerez, made an impressive comeback by leading the session briefly with a fastest lap time of 1m45.691s before being knocked down to eighth position. His younger brother Alex Marquez set the pace early on but had to settle for ninth place despite topping FP1 earlier in the day.

Aleix Espargaro Overcomes Ankle Injury

Aleix Espargaro showed grit and determination during the session as he battled through an ankle injury sustained during practice yesterday. Despite having to return to his garage midway through FP2 to ice his bruised ankle, he managed to finish inside the top ten with a time of 1m46.187s on his Aprilia machine.

Binder And Martin Impress For KTM

KTM riders Brad Binder and Jorge Martin put up impressive performances throughout Free Practice 2 by consistently challenging their rivals for top positions on the timesheets. Binder finished third overall just behind Bezzecchi while Martin took fifth position ahead of Enea Bastianini who returned after missing two races due to injury.

The Battle Continues In Mugello

As expected, there was no shortage of drama and excitement during Free Practice 2 at Mugello Circuit today. The Italian riders have shown they are not going down without putting up a fight against their international rivals this weekend. With qualifying fast approaching tomorrow afternoon, it remains uncertain which rider will claim pole position ahead of Sunday’s race day action.