We’re used to seeing an Italian riding a red Ducati at the top of the timesheets in MotoGP™, but not this one! Ducati’s test rider Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing) claimed P1 in FP1 at the Gran Premio Red Bull di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini as Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) completed the top three on Friday morning.
Wildcard delight at Misano! 🔝@PirroRider tops FP1 on home turf ahead of @Luca_Marini_97! 💪#SanMarinoGP 🇸🇲 pic.twitter.com/MnDQlbNSAc
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 8, 2023
Pirro set a 1:31.909 towards the end of the session to eventually lead the way by just over a tenth in a tightly contested opening session of the weekend. Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Raul Fernandez (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP™ Team) rounded out the top five, with Dani Pedrosa (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) ending the 45-minute stint in P6.
Reigning World Champion Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo Team) finished P20 as the #1 was back on track for the first time since his heavy crash at the Catalan GP. Pecco completed 18 laps but was only 0.690s off Pirro’s pace.
Tune into MotoGP™ Practice at 15:00 local time (GMT+2).
Top 10:
| 1 | Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing) | 1:31.909 |
| 2 | Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) | + 0.115 |
| 3 | Jorge Martin (Prima Pramac Racing) | + 0.157 |
| 4 | Marco Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) | + 0.181 |
| 5 | Raul Fernandez (CryptoDATA RNF MotoGP™ Team) | + 0.318 |
| 6 | Dani Pedrosa (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) | + 0.341 |
| 7 | Maverick Viñales (Aprilia Racing) | + 0.356 |
| 8 | Johann Zarco (Prima Pramac Racing) | + 0.392 |
| 9 | Aleix Espargaro (Aprilia Racing) | + 0.418 |
| 10 | Alex Marquez (Gresini Racing MotoGP™) | + 0.440 |
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