MotoGP Mugello: Viñales flies in Pre-Qualifying, Bagnaia and Marc Marquez chase

Pre-qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello ended with a surprise protagonist: Maverick Viñales. The Ktm rider stopped the clock on 1:44.634, taking the best performance of the session and booking a starring place for Saturday’s official qualifying.

Shortly behind the Spaniard were the two Ducati Factory bikes, with Pecco Bagnaia second and Marc Marquez third, both within a few tenths of each other. The two champions already seem to be in full race mood, ready to give battle both in qualifying and in Saturday afternoon’s Sprint. Fourth time for Alex Marquez, increasingly consistent and competitive, while in fifth place was a great performance by Fabio Quartararo. The Yamaha Frenchman rode almost the entire session with a subluxation in his left shoulder, showing great determination and the ability to suffer, finishing with a result that relaunches him in the fight for the positions that count.

Marco Bezzecchi, Jorge Martin, Franco Morbidelli, Raul Fernandez and Joan Mir also complete the top ten of direct qualifiers for Q2. Instead, important names such as Enea Bastianini, Pedro Acosta, Brad Binder and Fermín Aldeguer remain out, forced to go through the dreaded Q1 in the hope of getting back among the best.

Saturday promises to be a very hot day: official qualifying will start at 10:50 a.m., while at 3 p.m. the Sprint Race is scheduled, a high-intensity anticipation of Sunday’s long race (2 p.m.).