Johann Zarco tops wet Emilia Romagna MotoGP FP1

Pramac Ducati rider Johann Zarco returns to the top by leading a wet opening practice session for MotoGP’s return to Misano at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, while fellow Ducati rider and title contender Francesco Bagnaia suffered a late fall.

Factory Ducati’s Jack Miller led for the majority of the session ahead of factory team-mate Bagnaia, with Zarco moving to the top with seven minutes remaining.

Zarco, who has struggled to repeat his early season podium run and recently underwent arm pump surgery, improved his time further to pull a big 1.4s clear of nearest rival Marc Marquez, who popped ahead of Miller on his final lap.

Late improvements also moved Jorge Martin and Franco Morbidelli to fourth and fifth, ahead of Bagnaia, who had lowsided at the end of the back straight.

World championship leader Fabio Quartararo may have stayed upright but the Frenchman’s Yamaha again looked twitchy in the wet on his way to 18th place, 3.1s behind Zarco.

Quartararo has his first chance to win the MotoGP title this weekend, providing he can keep his 52-point lead over Bagnaia to at least 50-points on Sunday.

There were early accidents for Alex Marquez and Brad Binder, plus a technical issue in the pits for Aleix Espargaro, who had been fastest at the Misano post-race test.

Local hero Valentino Rossi is competing in his final Italian round before retirement.

Bagnaia won last month’s first Misano round, ahead of Quartararo and Enea Bastianini.

The tyre allocation will be the same for this weekend, but temperatures are cooler and more rain is expected throughout Friday.

EMILIA ROMAGNA MOTOGP, MISANO – FREE PRACTICE (1) RESULTS