Andrea Iannone dominated Friday at Mugello by topping the second free practice session of the weekend, in a session that saw two separate red flag periods.
Behind Iannone came Maverick Vinales and Marc Marquez, the championship leader suffering a messy session after crashing at turn four as well as running into the gravel trap at the final corner during the session.
The first stoppage came as a result of a terrifying crash involving Michele Pirro, who was thrown from his GP18 at the high speed approach into turn one.
The Italian saved a moment coming over the rise just before the braking zone, until the front brake grabbed and stopped the front wheel rotating, launching Pirro from the bike and into the gravel trap at high speed.
Despite the disturbing incident, Pirro was extracted from the scene conscious to the medical centre, before later heading to a hospital located in nearby Florence for further checks.
The second incident was caused by another of the factory Ducati’s, this time Andrea Dovizioso’s. His Desmosedici’s engine seized into turn one just seven minutes after the session restarted, catching fire as a result.
This came after Dovizioso set a new MotoGP top speed record down the front straight, recording an astonishing 221.456mph before hitting the brakes into the first corner.
Rounding out the top five in FP2 were a pair of satellite riders, Johann Zarco putting his Tech 3 Yamaha fourth just ahead of Jack Miller’s Pramac Ducati.
Cal Crutchlow ended the session in sixth place, while Valentino Rossi finished a relatively quiet opening day just behind the Brit in seventh place.
Franco Morbidelli ended his first day at Mugello on a MotoGP bike again strongly by slotting in eighth place, as the top ten was rounded out by two more GP18 Ducati’s, Danilo Petrucci leading Jorge Lorenzo.
Aside from the two session stoppages, FP2 saw plenty of crashes throughout the field; with turn one being a particular hot spot for incident.
Aside from Pirro’s horror crash, several other riders had issues with the tricky braking zone into the first corner, as both Tom Luthi and Aleix Espargaro tumbled off their respective machines toward the end of the session.
Session leader Iannone also had a small moment, marginally out-braking himself and running through the gravel trap on outside of the first turn, although was able to re-join the circuit without drama.
