Fabio Quartararo started the inaugural Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Misano on top, leading a Petronas SRT 1-2 ahead of San Marino GP winner Franco Morbidelli.
The satellite Yamaha men looked to have it under control at several different points during the session, Morbidelli posting an early benchmark of 1:32.365 to lead KTM’s Pol Espargaro and Quartararo.
Several different pilots then held shifts atop the timesheets as the session reached its climax, Andrea Dovizioso first demoting Morbidelli’s M1 before Joan Mir set the first sub 1:32 of the weekend-a 1:31.926-to shoot to the head of the standings.
It was Quartararo though who held all the cards, first moving ahead of the rest with a 1:31.889, before responding to a late charge from Espargaro to bang in the session benchmark of 1:31.721-just a few tenths down on last weekend’s pole time.
Morbidelli also improved late on to slot into second 0.090 down on his team-mate, while Espargaro started KTM’s Emilia Romagna event off on the right foot in third following the Austrian manufacturers tough San Marino event-in which its highest placed RC16 managed a distant tenth in the race.
Mir ended up fourth for Suzuki, while Miguel Oliveira backed up KTM’s so far improved form around Misano to complete the top five on his Tech 3-run machine.
Takaaki Nakagami meanwhile was sixth fastest on the sole LCR Honda out this weekend as Cal Crutchlow continues to recover from his arm pump surgery that caused him to miss the San Marino event.
Dovizioso ultimately slipped to seventh overall ahead of Johann Zarco’s Avintia Ducati-the Frenchman receiving an updated frame for his GP19 for this event-with the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro ninth.
Francesco Bagnaia completed the top ten on his Pramac Ducati, leading the factory example of Danilo Petrucci in 11th while team-mate Jack Miller could only muster up 15th.
Alex Marquez put in an improved showing thanks to a handy slipstream from Nakagami-the factory Honda racer classified 12th just ahead of the first of the factory Yamaha’s of Maverick Vinales.
Valentino Rossi was even further behind the eight-ball, the seven-time premier class champion only 17th behind Alex Rins on the second GSX-RR.
Rins suffered a particularly messy session, having got caught out by his machine twice in the 45 minute session.
He narrowly avoided a major high-side on the exit of Turn 5-running through the gravel on the exit of the bend as a result-before tucking the front of his bike into Turn 8 in the latter part of the test.
| Pos. | Rider | Team | Time | Gap / Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’31.721 | |
| 2 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Petronas Yamaha SRT | 1’31.811 | 0.090 / 0.090 |
| 3 | Pol ESPARGARO | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’31.841 | 0.120 / 0.030 |
| 4 | Joan MIR | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’31.926 | 0.205 / 0.085 |
| 5 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’31.965 | 0.244 / 0.039 |
| 6 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | LCR Honda IDEMITSU | 1’32.102 | 0.381 / 0.137 |
| 7 | Andrea DOVIZIOSO | Ducati Team | 1’32.152 | 0.431 / 0.050 |
| 8 | Johann ZARCO | Esponsorama Racing | 1’32.170 | 0.449 / 0.018 |
| 9 | Aleix ESPARGARO | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’32.185 | 0.464 / 0.015 |
| 10 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Pramac Racing | 1’32.410 | 0.689 / 0.225 |
| 11 | Danilo PETRUCCI | Ducati Team | 1’32.435 | 0.714 / 0.025 |
| 12 | Alex MARQUEZ | Repsol Honda Team | 1’32.437 | 0.716 / 0.002 |
| 13 | Maverick VIÑALES | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’32.589 | 0.868 / 0.152 |
| 14 | Brad BINDER | Red Bull KTM Factory Racing | 1’32.611 | 0.890 / 0.022 |
| 15 | Jack MILLER | Pramac Racing | 1’32.627 | 0.906 / 0.016 |
| 16 | Alex RINS | Team SUZUKI ECSTAR | 1’32.634 | 0.913 / 0.007 |
| 17 | Valentino ROSSI | Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP | 1’32.832 | 1.111 / 0.198 |
| 18 | Bradley SMITH | Aprilia Racing Team Gresini | 1’33.101 | 1.380 / 0.269 |
| 19 | Iker LECUONA | Red Bull KTM Tech 3 | 1’33.183 | 1.462 / 0.082 |
| 20 | Stefan BRADL | Repsol Honda Team | 1’33.384 | 1.663 / 0.201 |
| 21 | Tito RABAT | Esponsorama Racing | 1’33.496 | 1.775 / 0.112 |
