Andrea Dovizioso was dominate on his Ducati at Friday's opening day at the MotoGP Gran Premio d'Italia TIM. The partisan Italian crowd was thrilled to see Dovi top the combined speedcharts for the morning and afternoon free practices. The Ducati Factory team conducted a private test at the Tuscany track recently and took advantage of the data gathered to quickly find a good set-up.
Repsol Honda's Marc Marquez was second fast and improved during the day, trying multiple set-up combinations in an attempt to fend off the front end issues and engine problems the RC213V has dealt with all season. The series defending champion found something late in the day, finishing behind Dovizioso by only 0.164 seconds.
Jorge Lorenzo has already scored decisive victories at Jerez and Le Mans, and came to Mugello seemingly full of confidence. The Spaniard has finished no worse than second in his last six Mugello races, and set the third fastest time of the day, just 0.373 seconds behind the leader. He feels there is still room for improvement.
Andrea Iannone was fourth but is still bothered by the broken arm he suffered during Ducati's private test on the circuit.
"I am not able to move my left shoulder the way I want to and so I'm losing a lot in changes in direction, and there are a lot of them here at Mugello," said Iannone.
Britain's Bradley Smith and Cal Crutchlow were fifth and sixth respectively, followed by Aleix Espargaro, nursing a surgically repaired thumb after a crash at Le Mans, and Scott Redding on the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS.
World Championship points leader Valentino Rossi struggled to ninth place on the speedcharts, running off track late in FP2 due to pushing too hard. He suffered problems under braking and the team tried modifications to the bike which caused a loss of grip on the left side. At one point, The Doctor was third fastest on the charts; the Italian will look to make improvements on Saturday.
In Moto 2, reigning series champion Tito Rabat set the fastest lap in Mugello history at 1.52.311 on the Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS, ahead of Ajo Motorsport's Johann Zarco by a mere .001 seconds during FP1. Rabat's time bested Pol Espargaro's 2012 pole speed of 1.52.369.
Moto 3 practice saw the Italian riders setting the pace before a passionate home crowd. Niccolo Antonelli set the fastest time of the day during FP2, after Enea Bastianini was quickest in FP1.
Practice and qualifying for all three series takes place on Saturday, with the Gran PRemio d'Italia TIM races set for Sunday, May 31.