Bagnaia Sets Pace in Emilia-Romagna GP Practice Session

During the second practice session for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Friday, Francesco Bagnaia of the Ducati team emerged as the fastest rider. Bagnaia clocked a time of 1 minute 30.286 seconds, narrowly surpassing his rival, Jorge Martin from Pramac Racing, by less than two tenths of a second at the Misano circuit. Marc Marquez of Gresini Racing secured the third-fastest time on the track.

The session witnessed a fierce battle between championship contenders Bagnaia and Martin. Initially, Jorge Martin set the pace with a lap time of 1 minute 31.325 seconds, but Bagnaia quickly retaliated with a swifter 1 minute 31.129 seconds. This duel continued with Martin breaking the 1 minute 32 seconds barrier, only for Bagnaia to reclaim superiority with a lap of 1 minute 30.924 seconds.

In the final minutes, as riders fitted soft rear tires, Jorge Martin managed to register a time of 1 minute 30.585 seconds. However, Bagnaia found an extra quarter-second margin, concluding with his session-topping time of 1 minute 30.286 seconds. Martin’s session ended with an incident, as he lost control of his bike at the challenging Turn 8.

Marc Marquez, who had displayed impressive pace in the first practice session, finished the second session third quickest with a time of 1 minute 30.585 seconds, just behind Martin. Meanwhile, Fabio Quartararo represented the factory Yamaha team by finishing in a commendable fifth place, despite missing his teammate due to illness.

The session concluded with several crashes, including incidents involving VR46’s Luca Marini at Turn 13 and KTM’s Jack Miller at Turn 1. Both riders are now set to navigate the preliminary Q1 qualifying stage.