Mattia Pasini heads into this afternoon’s qualifying session for the Moto2 Italian Grand Prix with the bit between his teeth, after the Italtrans rider ended final practice almost two tenths clear of the field.
The Italian rider has enjoyed a good run of form of late this season, and has been fast throughout practice so far. Tucking in behind his great friend Franco Morbidelli, Pasini shot to the top of the pile and proceeded to chip away at his best lap, eventually finishing with a 1m51.963s.
Behind him was Honda Team Asia’s Takaaki Nakagami, who did go fastest in the early stages of third practice. The Japanese rider managed a best of 1m52.155s, with Simone Corsi just 0.022 seconds adrift in third spot.
Championship leader Morbidelli took the chequered flag in fourth spot, the Italian heading team-mate Alex Marquez by two tenths of a second. Marquez beat himself up in a crash during practice in France, and has been forced to use painkillers today after riding in a considerable amount of discomfort on Friday.
Tech 3’s Xavi Vierge impressed once again in sixth spot, while Axel Pons quietly went about his business in seventh ahead of KTM’s Miguel Oliveira. Luca Marini is another rider suffering, after a crash yesterday aggravated an old shoulder injury.
The Forward Racing rider gritted his teeth and was a decent ninth on his Kalex, Marini a tenth quicker than Tom Luthi in 10th spot, while Fancesco Bagnaia missed out on the top 10 by just over half a tenth of a second.
Isaac Vinales headed Hafizh Syahrin, with Dominique Aegerter ending the session 14th fastest, the Swiss rider losing track time early in the session thanks to a broken water pump. Remy Gardner completed the top 15 on the second Tech 3 machine.
