Submitted by David Emmett on
Alex de Angelis took a determined lead in the first session of free practice for the Moto2 class, the RSM Team Scot rider dominating for much of the session, leading by over a second for a large part of practice. De Angelis made good use of the new Ohlins suspension fitted to his GP210, as well as a thinner fairing, improving the aerodynamics and saving a total of 5 kg on the total bike weight.
Where the differences at other tracks have been minimal, the gaps are much bigger here at Mugello. Sergio Gadea finished the session in 2nd, over two tenths behind De Angelis, with Mapfre Aspar's Julian Simon a few hundredths behind Gadea. Andrea Iannone rounded out the provisional front row, nearly half a second behind De Angelis.
That pattern is repeated all the way through the field, with a second covering just the top 10, rather than the top 25, as it did at Le Mans. Mugello's greater length, faster front straight and difficult changes of direction are making finding the right setup on the brand new Moto2 bikes much more difficult. At Mugello, the strengths of the different chassis are really starting to make a difference.
Results:
| Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time | Diff | Diff Previous |
| 1 | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | FORCE GP210 | 1'56.422 | ||
| 2 | 40 | Sergio GADEA | PONS KALEX | 1'56.639 | 0.217 | 0.217 |
| 3 | 60 | Julian SIMON | SUTER | 1'56.715 | 0.293 | 0.076 |
| 4 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | SPEED UP | 1'56.873 | 0.451 | 0.158 |
| 5 | 65 | Stefan BRADL | SUTER | 1'57.166 | 0.744 | 0.293 |
| 6 | 16 | Jules CLUZEL | SUTER | 1'57.189 | 0.767 | 0.023 |
| 7 | 72 | Yuki TAKAHASHI | TECH 3 | 1'57.264 | 0.842 | 0.075 |
| 8 | 48 | Shoya TOMIZAWA | SUTER | 1'57.276 | 0.854 | 0.012 |
| 9 | 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | SUTER | 1'57.327 | 0.905 | 0.051 |
| 10 | 2 | Gabor TALMACSI | SPEED UP | 1'57.340 | 0.918 | 0.013 |
| 11 | 24 | Toni ELIAS | MORIWAKI | 1'57.454 | 1.032 | 0.114 |
| 12 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | MORIWAKI | 1'57.468 | 1.046 | 0.014 |
| 13 | 75 | Mattia PASINI | MOTOBI | 1'57.502 | 1.080 | 0.034 |
| 14 | 25 | Alex BALDOLINI | I.C.P. | 1'57.537 | 1.115 | 0.035 |
| 15 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | BQR-MOTO2 | 1'57.680 | 1.258 | 0.143 |
| 16 | 3 | Simone CORSI | MOTOBI | 1'57.730 | 1.308 | 0.050 |
| 17 | 44 | Roberto ROLFO | SUTER | 1'57.733 | 1.311 | 0.003 |
| 18 | 14 | Ratthapark WILAIROT | BIMOTA | 1'57.787 | 1.365 | 0.054 |
| 19 | 45 | Scott REDDING | SUTER | 1'57.788 | 1.366 | 0.001 |
| 20 | 6 | Alex DEBON | FTR | 1'57.824 | 1.402 | 0.036 |
| 21 | 10 | Fonsi NIETO | MORIWAKI | 1'57.881 | 1.459 | 0.057 |
| 22 | 80 | Axel PONS | PONS KALEX | 1'58.073 | 1.651 | 0.192 |
| 23 | 35 | Raffaele DE ROSA | TECH 3 | 1'58.097 | 1.675 | 0.024 |
| 24 | 52 | Lukas PESEK | MORIWAKI | 1'58.123 | 1.701 | 0.026 |
| 25 | 71 | Claudio CORTI | SUTER | 1'58.151 | 1.729 | 0.028 |
| 26 | 55 | Hector FAUBEL | SUTER | 1'58.192 | 1.770 | 0.041 |
| 27 | 53 | Valentin DEBISE | ADV | 1'58.348 | 1.926 | 0.156 |
| 28 | 61 | Vladimir IVANOV | MORIWAKI | 1'58.378 | 1.956 | 0.030 |
| 29 | 17 | Karel ABRAHAM | FTR | 1'58.490 | 2.068 | 0.112 |
| 30 | 21 | Vladimir LEONOV | SUTER | 1'58.545 | 2.123 | 0.055 |
| 31 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SUTER | 1'58.607 | 2.185 | 0.062 |
| 32 | 59 | Niccolo CANEPA | FORCE GP210 | 1'58.700 | 2.278 | 0.093 |
| 33 | 41 | Arne TODE | SUTER | 1'58.776 | 2.354 | 0.076 |
| 34 | 5 | Joan OLIVE | PROMOHARRIS | 1'58.829 | 2.407 | 0.053 |
| 35 | 9 | Kenny NOYES | PROMOHARRIS | 1'58.929 | 2.507 | 0.100 |
| 36 | 39 | Robertino PIETRI | SUTER | 1'59.333 | 2.911 | 0.404 |
| 37 | 8 | Anthony WEST | HONDA | 1'59.601 | 3.179 | 0.268 |
| 38 | 96 | Anthony DELHALLE | BQR-MOTO2 | 1'59.707 | 3.285 | 0.106 |
| 39 | 19 | Xavier SIMEON | MORIWAKI | 1'59.800 | 3.378 | 0.093 |
| 40 | 88 | Yannick GUERRA | MORIWAKI | 2'00.578 | 4.156 | 0.778 |
| 41 | 76 | Bernat MARTINEZ | BIMOTA | 2'01.028 | 4.606 | 0.450 |
Comments
Good to see Alex back on the pace
He was my pick for the title at the start of the year in this most difficult of MotoGP lotteries. I remember being at Mugello in 1995 and Doohan was turning mid 1:55's in Sunday qualifying. These mildly tuned road engined 600's are only fractionally slower on a much bumpier track than then and sure to get quicker tomorrow. Progress.
Motorcycles fall over if you don't go fast. Fred Gassit -AMCN.
Did they change the rule
Did they change the rule that 250s would be allowed in this transition year? Because by the looks of the laptimes, a 250 would be lapping the front-runners on the Moto2 bikes...