Francesco Bagnaia takes first ahead of Alex Rins and Franco Morbidelli.

We return to Mugello this week for the Gran Premio D’Italia Oakley. Last year, the championship missed out on the Mugello weekend due to the pandemic, so we’re glad to see it return this season!

Back in 2019, it was Danilo Petrucci who took the home win, aboard the Factory Ducati, with teammate Andrea Dovizioso taking third. Now, 2 years on, the Ducati remains on top at the end of Day 1, as Bagnaia swipes P1 from Rins on his last flying lap in Free Practice 2.

Rins sits just 0.071s behind the Italian, and looks to have returned to fighting form after a string of crashes in the last 3 races. Let’s hope for a decent result from the Spaniard come Sunday.

Another rider back on form appears to be Morbidelli in third. With a poor start to the season, followed by a podium in Jerez, then followed by a crash last time out in France, it’s been one hell of a rollercoaster for the Petronas Yamaha SRT rider, and it’s expected that he will be after redemption come Sunday, and already looks set to make it happen. Teammate Valentino Rossi ends Day 1 in 21^st place, however, with the entire grid covered by just 1.645s, the position looks just that bit more brutal than reality, as The Doctor isn’t horrendously off the pace.

Fabio Quartararo ends today in P4, while the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing duo follow close behind. Brad Binder had a very promising day, his first time at Mugello on a MotoGP machine ended in 5^th place, while teammate Miguel Oliveira finished just behind in P6.

Another commendable rider once again is Takaaki Nakagami, who takes the Honda top-spot, and is the only Honda rider within in Top 10 in 7^th place, finishing just 0.009s behind Oliveira. The Repsol Honda Team duo Marc Marquez and Pol Espargaro reside in P13 and P14, while LCR Honda Castrol rider Alex Marquez sits in 18^th. 

Maverick Viñales takes P8 on the combined timesheets, after topping Free Practice 1 and failing to improve the time in the second session.

Aleix Espargaro ends Day 1 in 9^th place, while Jack Miller rounds out the Top 10, just 0.33s behind the Aprilia Racing Team Gresini rider

With the Top 16 covered by 1 second, and the entire class by just 1.645s, it is once again all to play for in Mugello!

MotoGP Free Practice 3 begins tomorrow at 09:55 Local Time (GMT +2).

Feature Image: MotoGP.com