Francesco Bagnaia leads on Friday without opposition from fallen leader Jorge Martin

Italian rider Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) was the fastest on Friday in MotoGP Practice, at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at the Misano circuit, in a ‘Practice’ that was full of falls in its final stretch and that Jorge Martín (Ducati), leader of the World Championship, could not finish, who was second nevertheless ahead of Marc Márquez (Ducati), while in Moto2 the fastest of the day was the Italian Tony Arbolino and in Moto3 the best was the Spaniard Adrián Fernández.

With a new record time of 1:30.286, Bagnaia started strongly in his siege of Martín, who was unable to launch a final ‘time attack’ due to an unexpected fall. And lying in wait are Marc Márquez and Enea Bastianini (Ducati), third and fourth this Friday, just like in the World Championship, with cards still to show and not be surprised, who knows, by Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) who was fifth with his improved bike from the tuning fork factory.

Franco Morbidelli (Ducati), Marco Bezzecchi (Ducati), Maverick Viñales (Aprilia), Pedro Acosta (GasGas) and Aleix Espargaró (Aprilia) completed the ‘Top 10’ and direct access to Q2 to seek ‘pole position’ in this Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the second consecutive round held, with official tests in between, at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

In the premier class, practice was a quick session, with several scares in the form of falls but without any major setbacks, in which the top four riders in the Championship tested each other and sought each other out. So much so that Jorge Martín, the current leader, fell to the ground with just over 3 minutes to go when he was trying to snatch the best time of the day from his great rival.

Martín, who was behind his teammate Franco Morbidelli, lost the front end of his bike before he had time to go and get his second bike. His ninth fall of the season, the first on a Friday, but his presence in Q2 was not in danger.

Alex Marquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Brad Binder also crashed, as well as Enea Bastianini, due to nerves at the end of the session. The yellow flags that were seen as a result of these crashes prevented any further attempts at a fastest lap and this time there was no such dance of positions and times.

But Bagnaia still managed to get a 1:30 under a time that suggests that this Saturday, without waiting for Sunday, we could see the MotoGPs, especially the Ducatis, lapping in 1:29 at Misano. ‘Pecco’ Bagnaia improved by 18 thousandths the circuit record he set two weeks ago with that ‘pole’ that is now history. This weekend, the Ducatis could fly.

SURPRISES IN MOTO2 AND MOTO3

In Moto2 the fastest was Italian Tony Arbolino, an outsider in the fight for the title, with Spaniard Arón Canet second and Brazilian Diogo Moreira third. Among the candidates for world champion, British rider Jake Roberts was fifth, the best of them. The current leader, Japanese rider Ai Ogura, finished sixth, with Spaniard Sergio García Dols, his great rival, fourteenth and far from the lead.

Meanwhile, in Moto3, solid leader David Alonso does not have to give his all on a Friday and remained on the second row, in eighth place, 244 thousandths of a second off the best time of the day, set by the Spaniard Adrián Fernández, followed by Daniel Holgado and Ángel Piqueras, in a fully Spanish ‘Top 3’ in Misano.