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Practice report

Mugello MotoGP: Iannone tops FP2, huge crash for Pirro

Suzuki rider Andrea Iannone continued his strong Mugello MotoGP form by topping second practice for the Italian Grand Prix, which was interrupted by a major crash for Michele Pirro.

Andrea Iannone, Team Suzuki MotoGP

Andrea Iannone, Team Suzuki MotoGP

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

The session was suspended with 29 minutes left on the clock when Ducati wildcard Pirro was launched off his bike on the downhill approach to the first corner, San Donato, at terrifying speed.

A replay of the incident showed the front wheel of the Desmosedici locking as the rear of the bike went up in the air, before suddenly regaining grip and throwing Pirro high into the air.

Pirro lost consciousness as he hit the ground, but was conscious again by the time he was taken to the medical centre by ambulance. He was subsequently transported to hospital by helicopter.

After a pause of some 20 minutes, the session was resumed, only to then be halted again when Andrea Dovizioso's engine blew at San Donato, leaving a trail of oil on track and causing the Ducati to catch fire.

Moments before, FP1 pacesetter Iannone had improved to a best time of 1m47.274s, and shortly after the second stoppage Honda man Marc Marquez moved to the top on a 1m47.218s, recovering from a minor low-side crash at Turn 4 between the two red flags.

That stood as the quickest time until the final three minutes, when Yamaha's Maverick Vinales posted a 1m47.122s, but that was beaten by 0.387s in the dying moments by Iannone's 1m46.735s effort.

Vinales remained second ahead of Marquez, while Johann Zarco (Tech 3 Yamaha) and Jack Miller (Pramac Ducati) completed the top five narrowly ahead of Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda).

Home hero Valentino Rossi was seventh-fastest on the second works Yamaha ahead of his mentee Franco Morbidelli (Marc VDS Honda), who ran as high as third before dropping down late on.

The only two GP18 Ducati riders to enjoy a clean session, Danilo Petrucci and Jorge Lorenzo, completed the top 10 ahead of another Honda rookie, Takaaki Nakagami (LCR).

Dovizioso was classified 12th after his blow-up, followed by the second Honda of Dani Pedrosa, while Iannone's Suzuki teammate Alex Rins was a lowly 15th, 1.261s off the pace.

Aleix Espargaro was the lead Aprilia rider in 16th after a late crash at San Donato, while Thomas Luthi suffered his second fall in as many sessions on the second Marc VDS Honda on his way to 23rd.

Practice results:

Pos.#RiderBikeTimeGap
1 29 italy Andrea Iannone  Suzuki 1'46.735  
2 25 spain Maverick Viñales  Yamaha 1'47.122 0.387
3 93 spain Marc Marquez  Honda 1'47.218 0.483
4 5 france Johann Zarco  Yamaha 1'47.365 0.630
5 43 australia Jack Miller  Ducati 1'47.403 0.668
6 35 united_kingdom Cal Crutchlow  Honda 1'47.433 0.698
7 46 italy Valentino Rossi  Yamaha 1'47.445 0.710
8 21 italy Franco Morbidelli  Honda 1'47.497 0.762
9 9 italy Danilo Petrucci  Ducati 1'47.569 0.834
10 99 spain Jorge Lorenzo  Ducati 1'47.691 0.956
11 30 japan Takaaki Nakagami  Honda 1'47.901 1.166
12 4 italy Andrea Dovizioso  Ducati 1'47.902 1.167
13 26 spain Dani Pedrosa  Honda 1'47.924 1.189
14 55 malaysia Hafizh Syahrin  Yamaha 1'47.946 1.211
15 42 spain Alex Rins  Suzuki 1'47.996 1.261
16 41 spain Aleix Espargaro  Aprilia 1'48.113 1.378
17 53 spain Tito Rabat  Ducati 1'48.221 1.486
18 44 spain Pol Espargaro  KTM 1'48.269 1.534
19 45 united_kingdom Scott Redding  Aprilia 1'48.458 1.723
20 19 spain Alvaro Bautista  Ducati 1'48.524 1.789
21 17 czech_republic Karel Abraham  Ducati 1'48.926 2.191
22 38 united_kingdom Bradley Smith  KTM 1'49.044 2.309
23 12 switzerland Thomas Luthi  Honda 1'49.082 2.347
24 51 italy Michele Pirro  Ducati 1'49.111 2.376
25 10 belgium Xavier Simeon  Ducati 1'49.757 3.022

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