2021 Emilia Romagna MotoGP, Misano - Free Practice (1) Results

Free Practice (1) results from the Emilia Romagna MotoGP at Misano, round 16 of 18 in the 2021 world championship.
Johann Zarco, MotoGP, San Marino MotoGP 17 September 2021
Johann Zarco, MotoGP, San Marino MotoGP 17 September 2021
© Gold and Goose

Johann Zarco returns to the top by leading a wet opening practice session fo💫r MotoGP's return to Misano at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, while fellow Ducati rider and title contender Francesco Bagnaia suffered a late fall.

Jack Miller led for the majority of the sessꩲion ahead of factory team-mate Bagnaia, with Zarco moving to the top with seven minutes remaining.

The Pramac Ducati rider, who has struggled to repeat his early season podium run and recently underwent arm pump surgery, improved his time further to pull a big 1.4s clear of ওnearest rival Marc Marquez, who popped ahead of Miller on his final lap.

Late improvement🀅s also moved Jorge Mart🍌in and Franco Morbidelli to fourth and fifth, ahead of Bagnaia, who had lowsided at the end of the back straight.

World chamꦯpionship leader Fabio Quartararo may have stayed upright but the Frenchman's Yamaha a꧃gain looked twitchy in the wet on his way to 18th place, 3.1s behind Zarco.

Quartararo has his first chance to win the MotoGP title this weekend, providingꦆ he can keep his 52-point lead over Bagnaia to at least ♐50-points on Sunday.

There were early accidents for Alex Marquez and Brad Binder, plus a technical issue in the pits for Aleix Espargaro, who had been fastest at the Misano post-race test.

Local hero Valentino Rossi is competing in his final Italian round before retirement.

Bagnaia won last month's first Misano round, ahead of Quartararo and Enea Bastianini.

The tyre allocation will be the same for this we🌱ekend, but temperatures are cooler and more rain is expected throughout Friday.

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