Romano Fenati kicked off his home grand prix weekend at Mugello at the top of the FP1 timesheets, after a late effort edged him ahead of Jorge Martin.
Fenati shot to the top of the pile in the early stages of the 40-minute FP1, though top spot had several riders occupying it as the 31-strong field got to grips with the 5.2km Italian circuit this morning.
A final lap of 1m58.347s put 2014 Italian Grand Prix winner Fenati top once again, 0.128 seconds clear of Gresini’s Martin, both of whom desperate for strong results this weekend after both crashed out of podium contention at Le Mans.
Sky VR46 KTM’s Nicolo Bulega completed the top three, with championship leader Joan Mir making a steady start in fourth spot.
RBA Racing’s Juanfran Guevara secured a career-best fifth place finish last time out in France, and will be keen to carry that momentum forward into this weekend. Guevara, the sole RBA representative in Italy while team-mate Gabriel Rodrigo recovers from a collarbone injury, was fifth fastest in FP1 with a 1m58.940s.
Andrea Migno headed countryman Lorenzo Dalla Porta, who will be hoping for big things at his home race after scoring his first points of the year in France. Leopard Racing’s Livio Loi enjoyed a decent start in eighth, with Tony Arbolino ninth in FP1 as he gears up for his first home grand prix.
Enea Bastianini completed the top 10, some 1.1s off the pace. Philipp Oettl, who missed this race last year due to injury, took the chequered flag in 11th ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio, John McPhee, Bo Bendsneyder and Marco Bezzecchi.
