Warm sunshine finally greeted the MotoGP paddock on the start of a Grand Prix weekend this morning as free practice got underway at Mugello with the Moto3 riders the first on track. Romano Fenati and Niccolo Antonelli did their best to steal the headlines at their home circuit but in the end it was Maverick Viñales who set the hot pace on a scorching day.
Just half a second behind him is Alberto Moncayo, who was seventh fastest in the morning and sixth in the afternoon. The Mapfre Aspar rider showed his professionalism to bounce back from his disappointment in Germany a week ago and set about changing his luck. Using the same chassis set-up as Sachsenring the Spaniard was immediately on the pace, shaving seven tenths off his best lap from the morning to the afternoon. His Mapfre Aspar team-mate Héctor Faubel also felt comfortable on the Kalex chassis but with some engine set-up problems the experienced Spaniard is hoping to make up several positions from nineteenth tomorrow.
6th Alberto Moncayo 2.00.235 (32 laps): “I am very pleased because we have improved a lot today from one session to the next. This afternoon I was on used tyres and the lap times were good so I think that is good preparation for the race. We'll have to keep improving tomorrow although it is just a case of me adapting to the track conditions rather than changing much on the bike. The chassis is working really well, we just need to improve in T2 because this is where I am losing time. I am really happy with the team and pleasantly surprised by the performance of the engine. The bike is perfect so tomorrow I'll aim to improve my riding and see what we can achieve with this set-up.”
19th Héctor Faubel 2.01.199 (32 laps): “It has been a pretty positive first day here at Mugello. We took things steadily today and tried to make gradual improvements. The chassis set-up is the same as Sachsenring but there was something not right with the engine or the gear ratio today – I was losing a lot of ground on the straights. We'll work with the mechanics tonight and see where we are losing out and why but overall I am happy with my general feeling with the bike and looking forward to ironing out our problems tomorrow.”
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