Bagnaia tops opening two free practice sessions

Italy's Francesco Bagnaia, riding a Ducati, dominated the opening two practice sessions for the Italian motorcycling Grand Prix in Mugello on Friday.

Bagnaia clocked 1min 46.147sec, 0.071sec ahead of Spain's Alex Rins (Suzuki), with another Italian, Franco Morbidelli (Yamaha-SRT), in third (+0.184).

French rider Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha), the current championship leader with a one-point advantage over Bagnaia, was fourth, at 0.225.

The winner of the last two MotoGP races, Australian Jack Miller (Ducati), came in 10th, 0.541sec off the pace.

A third free practice is scheduled for Saturday morning. The top 10 riders from the three practice sessions head straight to Q2, while those who finish outside that are destined for a Q1 battle later Saturday.

COMBINED TIMES:

1. Francesco Bagnaia (ITA/Ducati) 1min 46.147sec
2. Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) at 0.071sec
3. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Yamaha-SRT) 0.184
4. Fabio Quartararo (FRA/Yamaha) 0.225
5. Brad Binder (RSA/KTM) 0.289
6. Miguel Oliveira (POR/KTM) 0.437
7. Takaaki Nakagami (JPN/Honda-LCR) 0.446
8. Maverick Vinales (ESP/Yamaha) 0.446
9. Aleix Espargaro (ESP/Aprilia) 0.508, 10. Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati) 0.541

Selected

11. Johann Zarco (FRA/Ducati-Pramac) 0.655
12. Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki) 0.700
13. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) 0.826
21. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha-SRT) 1.572