Michael Scott | June 2, 2017
2017 Italian MotoGP Qualifying Kicks Into Gear – LCR Honda rider Cal Crutchlow scorched to the top of the timesheets at Mugello on the first day of practice for Sunday’s Italian GP – one of four riders to go faster in the hotter afternoon conditions, and promising he had more in his pocket for qualifying tomorrow.
2017 Italian MotoGP Qualifying Kicks Into Gear
LCR Honda’s Cal Crutchlow is off to a fast start at Mugellow.
“If it was a bit cooler I feel I could have gone a second faster,” the Briton said. His time of 1m47.365 was inside the fast and scenic circuit’s race lap record, but some seven tenths slower than the circuit’s best lap.
Points leader Maverick Vinales (Movistar Yamaha) had been third in the morning, but a heavy crash after running onto the kerb at the fast Arrabbiata 2 corner left him battered, and he didn’t improve his time, ending up fifth.
As always, tires were hugely influential, and Vinales blamed difficulty in getting the measure of the “medium” front Michelin – the only one of three that it asymmetric – for the fall.
Ahead of him were two Ducatis, both on the strength of morning times, with Andrea Dovizioso second, less than three hundredths slower than Crutchlow; and wild card Michele Pirro, the official factory tester, fourth.
In between, class rookie Jonas Folger (Monster Yamaha) slashed almost half a second off his morning time to slot into third. His ranking team-mate Johann Zarco was sixth behind Vinales, after also failing to improve.
Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) was seventh, with three more Ducatis filling the top ten – Barbera, Bautista and factory rider Lorenzo.
Marquez was 13th, the defending problem admitting that in spite of the stiffer construction, the front tyre allocation meant: “the Hondas are suffering.” With the asymmetric medium front, “the right side is harder than the hard, but the left side is softer.”
Qualifying could be a lot different, when all riders are likely to fit soft tires and concentrate on just one fast lap.
Will Valentino Rossi race on Sunday? The question remained open, but with the likelihood veering towards the positive, after he managed 34 laps (compared with 43 for Marquez) and placed 14th, just over six tenths off provisional pole
He needed painkillers in the afternoon after struggling in the morning – the worst problem being unexpected: “a lot of pain in my arm holding on to the handlebar in acceleration.” But they had not been strong painkillers, he said, and they had been enough.
“Today’s sessions were very important to get an understanding of my condition,” Rossi said. “This morning I suffered a lot, I had a lot of pain on the right, especially on acceleration, but this afternoon the situation was a bit better. I struggled physically, especially with my breathing, because I’m not at 100%, but it is getting better. We hope that tomorrow and Sunday the situation will improve. Usually Friday is the most difficult day, so we had to suffer a bit, but we tried.”
Rossi suffered a heavy crash while motocross training last Thursday, slamming into the handlebar with his stomach and then a big impact with the ground, after landing off the track from a jump in soft ground that stopped the bike dead. He was held overnight in hospital for observation, but a week later was passed fit to ride at Mugello.
2017 Italian MotoGP Qualifying Kicks Into Gear
After putting in laps today at Mugello, chances seem to be pretty good that Valentino Rossi will indeed race Sunday in spite of riding in pain resulting from a crash while training last week.
In Moto2, EG-Marc VDS Kalex riders Alex Marquez and points leader Franco Morbidelli first and third, three tenths of a second and Japan’s Taka Nakagami (Idemitsu Kalex) between them.
Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Kalex) was a close fourth, then Simone Corsi (Speed Up) on the first non-Kalex, ahead of dazzling rookie Pecco Bagnaia (SKY VR46 Kalex).
Reigning Moto3 champion Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM) was back after missing three races for further surgery on a troubling arm injury, placed an impressive seventh, less than a tenth behind fellow-rookie Bagnaia, and a few hundredths ahead of team-mate Miguel Oliveira.
Almost all the best Moto3 times came in the afternoon session, with the top eight within a second of Gresini Honda rider Fabio Di Giannantonio, but some hope for rival marques after Honda have held the high ground until now.
KTM-mounted Nicolo Bulega (SKY VR46) was second, and Aspar Mahindra rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta third.
John McPhee led an all-Honda provisional second row from points leader Joan Mir and Jorge Martin. Then came the KTM of J Guevara and Fenati’s Honda.
2017 Italian MotoGP Qualifying Kicks Into Gear
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