The first day of the San Marino Grand Prix got off to a very wet start. Torrential rain in Misano completely soaked the circuit and left a slick track surface. By the time Free Practice 1 rolled around, the track had largely dried, but there were plenty of damp patches ready to catch the riders out. Home hero Marco Bezzecchi ultimately came out on top, but Marc Márquez showed he is ready to bring the fight in Misano.
Free Practice 1
With the first session underway, spectators didn’t have to wait long for the first crash of the day. Just 43 seconds into FP1, Jack Miller went off at Turn 4. The Australian was caught out by cold front brakes, and was dropped hard before sliding into the gravel.
It was Marco Bezzecchi who set the early pace. At the 10-minute mark he was ahead of Álex Márquez, Pedro Acosta, Jorge Martín and Luca Marini. Acosta was the next rider to cash, low-siding as he entered Turn 1 and sliding into the gravel. Those behind were temporarily hindered, as the yellow flags waved between Turns 1, 2 and 3.
Marc Márquez moved into the top spot with just over 15 minutes left in the session, setting a 1:31.680. Most riders then started to filter into the pits to prepare for the closing stages of the session. However Marini, Fabio Di Giannantonio, Miller and Toprak Razgatlıoğlu stayed out.
With four minutes to go, Bezzecchi set a 1:31.647 to get himself back on top. Things were starting to get tight in the final minutes, with the top 16 riders separated by less than a second. As the chequered flags signalled the end of the session, Marc Márquez went fastest with a 1:31.468. Bezzecchi was pushed to second, with Álex Márquez, Johann Zarco and Pedro Acosta making up the rest of the top five. Meanwhile, Luca Marini, Raúl Fernández, Jorge Martín Fabio Quartararo and Pol Espargaró rounded out the top 10.
Practice
The afternoon session in Misano got off to a fairly steady start, with Bezzecchi and Martín quickly positioning themselves in the top two spots. However, Pecco Bagnaia soon showed some promise as he set the fastest lap of the session with a 1:31.631. Diogo Moreira then went second fastest, further nudging the Aprilia riders down the order.
At the halfway point, it was Bezzecchi leading from Franco Morbidelli, Álex Márquez, Fabio Di Giannantonio and Marc Márquez. As the clock counted down, riders began to head into the pits to provide feedback to their engineers and tune the bikes for those all-important fast laps.
With just over 17 minutes to go, Di Giannantonio set the fastest lap of the session with a 1:30.720. This brought a smile to the face of a spectating Valentino Rossi, who could be seen giving the thumbs up from his trackside vantage point. Just two minutes later, Luca Marini put his Honda in the top spot, continuing his strong form from earlier in the day.
Bezzecchi went fastest with 10 minutes to go, only for his time to immediately be beaten by Marc Márquez. Over the next nine minutes, it looked like nobody would be able to touch Márquez’s time. But, with one minute to go, Bezzecchi pulled out an absolute masterclass of a lap and set a 1:30.144 to finish the session at the top of the timing sheet. Marc Márquez had to settle for second, with Álex Márquez, Di Giannantonio and Franco Morbidelli finishing in the top five. Pedro Acosta finished sixth fastest, followed by Luca Marini, Johann Zarco, Pol Espargaró and Jorge Martín.
Feature image courtesy of Aprilia Racing