MotoGP LIVE Misano 2 FP1: Fabio Quartararo gets the ball rolling!

Article updated live until the end of the session.

With a championship leader totaling only 76 points after 6 events, the lowest score since the introduction of the current points system introduced in 1993, and 5 manufacturers in the first five places of the MotoGP test which took place on Tuesday, very clever the one who can choose today the winner of Sunday's race which will also mark the halfway point of the season!

If you want to play placed, nothing better than Andrea Dovizioso et Takaaki Nakagami, the only drivers to have scored points in all races contested so far this year, especially as the championship leader seems to have found an invigorating optimism.

If we want to play local and longevity, we can bet on Valentino Rossi who, thanks to the help of his second blue pill, will take his 250th start in the premier class on a Yamaha.

But many other options are possible, so let's stop speculating and observe the first steps of the forces present for this Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix which should be contested in the dry, and unfortunately in the absence of Cal Crutchlow.

For the moment, it is 26° in the air and 25° on the ground with a little wind when the 21 drivers prepare to try to beat last week's benchmarks, on a Misano track that the Moto3 just showed us very fast :

Misano-2 MotoGP™	2020-1	2020-2
FP1	1'32.198 Maverick Viñales (See here)	1'31.721 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
FP2	1'32.189 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
FP3	1'31.861 Valentino Rossi (See here)
FP4	1'32.404 Fabio Quartararo (See here)
Q1	1'32.064 Pol Espargaró (See here)
Q2	1'31.411 Maverick Viñales (See here)
warm up	1'32.781 Takaaki Nakagami (See here)
Course	Morbidelli, Bagnaia, Mir (See here)
All time lap record	1'31.411 Maverick Viñales 2020

When the red lights go out... alex rins rushes first in front Franco Morbidelli. As usual, Fabio Quartararo let everyone go before hitting the track.

When it comes to tires, everyone seems to have different tastes...

After a first lap launched in 1'34.091 achieved by Aleix Espargaró, serious things begin from the next passage with his brother Pol in 1'32.508.

The Catalan driver continued his effort in 1'32.390, ahead of Fabio Quartararo and Joan Mir while Alex Marquez is in the top 5.

Maverick Vinales uses the new and gigantic exhaust on his M1, which is not yet the case for the other three Yamaha riders…

After about ten minutes, the latest winner Franco Morbidelli achieves 1'32.365 during his sixth flying lap despite his absence during last Tuesday's MotoGP test.

At the end of the first run, the top 10 hierarchy is therefore made up of Franco Morbidelli, Pol Espargaró, Fabio Quartararo, Joan Mir, Álex Márquez, Aleix Espargaro, Johann Zarco, Takaaki Nakagami, Maverick Viñales and Miguel Oliveira.

This moment in the session, 18 drivers are in the same second!

Dorna Sports cameras show Alex Rins make a pass in the gravel after having had a nice heat with a rear tire already very damaged after 10 laps…

Although he didn't fall, his airbag went off, which isn't great for his shoulder.

Maverick Casa Particular in Viñales places his M1 in third position halfway through the session, before conceding it to Takaaki Nakagami.

Pol I will espargaro regains the lead in 1'32.355 20 minutes from the checkered flag.

Francesco Bagnaia and Jack Miller display the colors of Ducati in third and fifth positions while fabio quartararo suffered a small loss from the front which he managed to make up for.

His teammate Franco Morbidelli regained leadership in 1'32.224, a quarter of an hour before the end of the session.

Before the final packing, when the drivers return to their box to change to a softer tire, the hierarchy is made up of Franco Morbidelli, Pol Espargaró, Francesco Bagnaia, Takaaki Nakagami, Maverick Viñales, Jack Miller, Fabio Quartararo, Miguel Oliveira, Joan Mir, Álex Márquez, Aleix Espargaró, Johann Zarco, Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso, Brad Binder, Danilo Petrucci, Álex Rins , Iker Lecuona, Bradley Smith, Stefan Bradl and Tito Rabat.

On resumption, alex rins minor fall while losing the front at turn 8.

Meanwhile, Takaaki Nakagami, on whose shoulders all Honda's hopes rest, takes Alex Marquez in his wheel... Teamwork rewarded with fourth and fifth provisional positions!

Joan mir then breaks the 1'32 mark and achieves the best lap in 1'31.926.

Miguel Oliveira then carries the KTM torch in third position before being overtaken by Aleix I will espargaro.

Johann zarco rises to provisional sixth place, Miguel Oliveira to the second.

fabio quartararo sets the best time two minutes from the checkered flag, in 1'31.889.

Pol I will espargaro drives the point home again in 1'31.841 but fabio quartararo didn't give up and clocked a 1'31.721 just ahead of his teammate, a faster time than during qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix.

The Petronas are there, the KTMs too, the Ducatis not far away, Mir and Nakagami neither, but where are the Yamaha Factory? It is too early to draw any conclusions, especially since Maverick Vinales and Valentino Rossi had announced that they were going to start the weekend by continuing to try different configurations.

FP1 ranking of the Emilia-Romagna MotoGP Grand Prix:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com