Pol Espargaro was the fastest man in Friday Practice ahead of the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello but Bradley Smith was hot on his heels, continuing his good run of form. The Tech 3 rider was in the top four in both practice sessions and his Mistral 610 may pick up even more pace before qualifying.
Smith, who has struggled particularly for straight line speed so far this year, will be running a new aerodynamic package on his bike tomorrow as Tech 3's hard work to bring updates to their home-built chassis continues. The British rider hasn't finished on the podium since this very race last season and he'll be hoping the upgrade help end that drought.
Espargaro will take some beating though if his performance today is anything to go by. The Pons rider was fastest in both sessions today with his best time of 1:52.745 two tenths quicker than Smith. Along with Espargaro, Thomas Luthi has work to do in order to revive his championship challenge and the Swiss rider was third quickest.
Andrea Iannone was the quickest of the home riders in fourth although he was one of only four riders to go slower in the afternoon than he had in the morning. Championship leader Marc Marquez, fresh from securing a factory Honda ride in MotoGP, was fifth with Simone Corsi becoming the second Italian rider to break into the top six. Scott Redding, eager to bounce back from his first DNF of the year in Germany, was seventh ahead of the Alex de Angelis and Mika Kallio, two men looking to build on podium finishes a week ago.
Mike Di Meglio suffered a crash in the morning session, making a difficult start to life at the MZ Racing Team. The Frenchman has taken the ride after Swedish rookie Alexander Lundh was given his marching orders by the team. Di Meglio was 23rd overall, five places ahead of Britain's Gino Rea who also struggled today.
Moto2 Gran Premio D'Italia TIM: Combined Friday Practice Classification
Pos | Rider | Constructor | Team | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ![]() |
Kalex | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | 1:52.745 |
2 | ![]() |
Tech 3 | Tech 3 Racing | +0.221 |
3 | ![]() |
Suter | Interwetten-Paddock | +0.434 |
4 | ![]() |
Speed Up | Speed Master | +0.484 |
5 | ![]() |
Suter | Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol | +0.516 |
6 | ![]() |
FTR | Came IodaRacing Project | +0.563 |
7 | ![]() |
Kalex | Marc VDS Racing Team | +0.597 |
8 | ![]() |
FTR | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | +0.601 |
9 | ![]() |
Kalex | Marc VDS Racing Team | +0.627 |
10 | ![]() |
Kalex | Italtrans Racing Team | +0.865 |
11 | ![]() |
Motobi | JIR Moto2 | +0.914 |
12 | ![]() |
Suter | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | +0.969 |
13 | ![]() |
Kalex | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | +1.042 |
14 | ![]() |
Kalex | Italtrans Racing Team | +1.065 |
15 | ![]() |
Suter | GP Team Switzerland | +1.077 |
16 | ![]() |
FTR | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | +1.133 |
17 | ![]() |
Suter | Technomag-CIP | +1.197 |
18 | ![]() |
AJR | Arguiñano Racing Team | +1.419 |
19 | ![]() |
Tech 3 | Tech 3 Racing | +1.449 |
20 | ![]() |
Suter | Thai Honda Gresini Moto2 | +1.777 |
21 | ![]() |
Suter | Technomag-CIP | +1.868 |
22 | ![]() |
Speed Up | S/Master Speed Up | +1.924 |
23 | ![]() |
MZ-RE Honda | Cresto Guide MZ Racing | +1.948 |
24 | ![]() |
Kalex | Kiefer Racing | +1.976 |
25 | ![]() |
Suter | Blusens Avintia | +2.051 |
26 | ![]() |
Suter | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | +2.187 |
27 | ![]() |
Speed Up | QMMF Racing Team | +2,459 |
28 | ![]() |
Suter | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | +2.652 |
29 | ![]() |
Kalex | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | +2.837 |
30 | ![]() |
Bimota | Desguaces La Torre SAG | +2.977 |
31 | ![]() |
FTR | SAG Team | +3.753 |
32 | ![]() |
Motobi | JIR Moto2 | +4.119 |
33 | ![]() |
Moriwaki | QMMF Racing Team | +5.277 |