FP1 saw Vannucci set the pace as not only the fastest Yamaha, but also the fastest in the field. Ruben Bijman (Arco Motor University Team) had a strong session, placing his R3 in 11th. While title-leader Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) struggled early on, closing the morning session in 15th. After having completed one session to learn Imola’s curves, the riders felt more comfortable to push in the afternoon’s FP2, where it was once again Vannucci topping the timesheets. Team BrCorse team-mates, Marco Gaggi and Gennai upped their game, bringing their lap times down considerably compared with the morning. This brought Gennai up to sixth on combined, and Gaggi up to seventh. Devis Bergamini (ProGP Racing) had a decent day, finishing in 12th combined, but the Italian will have to serve a long lap penalty in tomorrow’s race due to an infringement during FP2.
Brazilian Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team pairing Enzo Valentim and Humberto Maier had a Friday to forget with the latter suffering a crash. They will aim to improve for Saturday morning’s Superpole.
