| Italian GP. Bagnaia and Miller close Friday free practices at Mugello Circuit in second and third place |
The Italian GP, Ducati's first home round for the 2022 MotoGP season, got off to a positive start on the ups and downs of Mugello Circuit for the Ducati Lenovo Team riders. Pecco Bagnaia and Jack Miller ended Friday's free practice with the second and third fastest times. At the same time, six Desmosedici GP machines finished in the top ten of the combined timesheets after the first two sessions.
As he was fast already after this morning's FP1, which he closed with the third-fastest time, Pecco Bagnaia continued his positive trend in the afternoon and was the first to go under the 1:46 mark in FP2. At the end of the day, the Italian rider closed with the second-fastest time in 1:45.940, just 49 thousandths behind Aleix Espargaro. Behind him, in third place, closed his teammate Jack Miller with a fastest lap in 1:46.313, which he put in with a soft tyre in the final minutes of the afternoon session.
Francesco Bagnaia (#63, Ducati Lenovo Team) - 2nd (1:45.940)
"I am satisfied with this first day here in Mugello. It's my home Grand Prix, my feeling with the bike is very good, and this afternoon we managed to work well during FP2. Compared to today, the temperatures are expected to be lower on Sunday. Tomorrow morning's two sessions will probably be the closest to race conditions, so they will be crucial to sort out the final details. In qualifying, on the other hand, it might rain, but I'm sure I can be competitive even in the wet. Hopefully, we can continue this positive trend with which we started the weekend."
Jack Miller (#43, Ducati Lenovo Team) - 3rd (1:46.313)
"I'm pretty happy with today's result! The bike is working relatively well: in the afternoon, we used a pre-heated tyre with which I couldn't get a good feeling, but as soon as I put on the soft tyre, the feeling improved, and I was able to pick up my pace. I am positive about tomorrow's qualifying, but we still have to work on the race pace. Tomorrow the weather could worsen, but that's not something that worries me. Racing at Mugello is always a lot of fun, and at the moment, we have a really competitive package, as shown by the fact that many Ducati bikes were fast today. So I'm positive".
The Ducati Lenovo Team riders will be back on track tomorrow at 9:55am CEST for FP3, while qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix will take place from 2:10pm at the end of FP4. |
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