Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira (April) finished 20th on the first day of free practice at the MotoGP Italian Grand Prix, a race that marks his return to competition after breaking his left shoulder.
Oliveira finished the trip with a time of 1.46.565 minutes, finishing 1.129 seconds behind the fastest champion of the day, world champion Francesco Bagnai (Ducati). Italy’s Marco Besecchi (Ducati) was second, 0.063 seconds back, while Spain’s Alex Rins (Honda) was third, 0.081 seconds back.
Miguel Oliveira was 21st fastest in the morning session, in which he completed just six laps around the Italian circuit at Mugello.
In the afternoon session, the Portuguese driver, who was forced to miss the previous French Grand Prix due to an injury suffered by Frenchman Fabio Quartararo (Yamaha) in Spain, finished in 18th place, an improvement of almost 0.8 seconds.
So Miguel Oliveira will have to go through the first stage of qualifying, Q1, on Saturday morning to try to secure a place in Q2 II, in which the top 10 are grouped this Friday and the top two in Q1.
The day was also marked by falls of Spaniard Alex Espargaro (Aprilia) in the morning and Joan Mir (Honda) in the afternoon.
Aleix Espargaro, who arrived at the event with a right heel injury after a fall while cycling, was forced to withdraw from the second free practice.
On Saturday, the third free practice and two qualifying rounds will take place, and in the afternoon there will be a sprint race.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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