Emilia Romagna GP- Jack Miller tops Day 1 of free practices at Misano in the wet 22.10.2021: - Eighth Pecco Bagnaia - Eighteenth Michele Pirro At the end of a wet first day of free practices for the Grand Prix of Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna, Jack Miller was the fastest man at the Misano World Circuit "Marco Simoncelli".

- Eighth Pecco Bagnaia - Eighteenth Michele Pirro



At the end of a wet first day of free practices for the Grand Prix of Made in Italy and Emilia Romagna, Jack Miller was the fastest man at the Misano World Circuit "Marco Simoncelli".



The Ducati Lenovo Team rider had managed to finish in third place during this morning FP1, despite being unable to find the perfect feeling immediately with his Desmosedici GP due to the low track temperatures and rain. On the other hand, in this afternoon's FP2, when the sun shone down again in the final minutes of the session, Miller was able to push hard right from the start on the still-wet track to top the combined timesheet with a fast lap in 1:41.305.



On the other side of the garage, teammate Pecco Bagnaia finished eighth. As he was sixth after FP1 this morning, despite a crash at the end of the session, the Italian rider improved by over a second and a half in the afternoon. However, as he went on the green, his last lap time - that would have seen him finishing third - was cancelled, relegating Bagnaia down into eighth position.



Michele Pirro closed in eighteenth place. The Ducati Test Team rider, who is taking part in the Emilia Romagna GP as a Wild Card this weekend, could not make good use of the time available in FP2. Pirro will aim to improve his performance and secure a top ten finish in tomorrow morning's FP3 before tackling the official qualifying for the sixteenth round of the 2021 MotoGP season, starting at 2:10 pm, at the end of FP4.




Jack Miller (#43 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 1st (1:41.305)

"I'm satisfied with this first day of work here at Misano. Despite the rain, the track conditions were good right from the start, and we could take advantage of a good level of grip right from the first session. Unfortunately, this morning I struggled to get the tyres up to temperature and took a few risks during the session.


We made some changes for FP2, and with the warmer temperatures in the afternoon, I felt more comfortable straight away and pushed from the first minutes of the session. Now we have to continue working in this direction to take another step forward ahead of tomorrow's qualifying: I'm determined to do well in this final part of the season.





Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 8th (1:42.669)

"I finished only eighth, but only because I couldn't complete my last lap as I went on the green. Looking at the ideal times, I could have been second in the combined classification. Being fast here is very important for us, and for sure, being on our home track is an extra motivation to stay ahead.


Let's see how the weekend develops. In the wet, there are a lot of strong riders, but we have shown that we have a good pace, and if the race is dry, we know we have a lot of potentials. The important thing will be trying to stay in the top ten in tomorrow morning's FP3, which could be held in the wet".






Michele Pirro (#51 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 18th (1:43.413)


"It was quite a peculiar day. At the start of FP2 this afternoon, there was a lot of water on the track, so I waited for the conditions to improve before going out.


When the track started to dry out, I went back out on new tyres, but I made many mistakes and couldn't really express our true potential. That's how the first day went, but I'm confident that tomorrow we can aim for the top ten in FP3 and have a good qualifying session."


    


 

Artur Vilalta - photos Ducati