< /p> Qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix, MotoGP category MotoGP race at Mugello, June 10, 2023. From left, Francesco Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi, both from Italy on Ducati machines.
Mugello (Italy) – Czech motorcycle rider Filip Salač will start Sunday's Italian Grand Prix in the Moto2 class from the second row. The 21-year-old pilot of the Gresini Racing team set the fifth time in today's qualifying at Mugello. In the MotoGP sprint race, the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello circuit witnessed a record set by Brad Binder. The South African reached a maximum speed of 366.1 km/h, which is the highest measured value in the history of the World Cup. The race was won by the championship leader Francesco Bagnaia.
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As in all five previous races this year, Salač advanced straight to the second part of the qualification, this time as the fourth man in the combined times from three practice sessions. In the battle for positions on the starting grid, he was only 230 thousandths behind the fastest Arón Canet from Spain, who, however, did not finish qualifying after falling and found himself under the care of doctors. The doctors revealed a fracture of two fingers on his right hand and they will decide on his start on the day of the race. Championship leader Tony Arbolino from Italy was only tenth and will stand on the fourth row.
Salač belongs to the fourth place in the current classification of the World Championship. In the last race at Le Mans, where the jubilee 1000th Grand Prix in the history of the World Championship was raced, he took second place after starting from fourth position and equaled the maximum in the series. In the season, he was still in the top ten.
In the royal class, he won the qualifying championship of Bagnaia and then decided for himself the subsequent 11-lap sprint. He already dominated Saturday's novelty of the season in Portugal and America, and will strive for his third triumph this year after Algarve and Jérez in Sunday's main race. He will go into it with a four-point lead over compatriot Marco Bezzecchi, who finished second in the sprint.
Binder finished only eleventh, i.e. out of the top nine, but the twenty-seven-year-old pilot can now be proud of the title of the fastest driver in the history of the Grand Prix. At the handlebars of KTM, the Italian Andrea Dovizioso surpassed the maximum, who reached a speed of 356.7 km/h on a Ducati machine in training on the same track in 2019.
Injury ended the sprint for Álex Rinse, who broke his tibia and fibula after falling in the fourth lap and is awaiting two surgeries. The first submits in Florence, the other after returning home to Spain. The LCR Honda team did not say how long the break awaits him.
Results of qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix of road motorcycles
Moto3: 1. Öncü (Tur./KTM) 1:56.020, 2. Kelso (Aust./CF Moto) -0.538, 3. Sasaki (Jap./Husqvarna) -0.591.
Moto2: 5. Salač (ČR/Kalex) -0.230.
MotoGP: 1. Bagnaia (It./Ducati) 1:44.855, 2. M. Márquez (Sp./Honda) -0.078, 3. Á. Márquez (Sp./Ducati) -0.152.
Sprint: 1. Bagnaia 19:41.183, 2. Bezzecchi (It./Ducati) -0.369, 3. Martín (Sp./Ducati) -0.952, 4. Zarco (Fr./Ducati) -1.009, 5. Marini (It./Ducati) -3.668, 6. Miller (Aust./KTM) -3.772.
Current standings: 1. Bagnaia 106, 2. Bezzecchi 102, 3. Martín 87, 4. Binder (JAR/KTM) 81, 5. Zarco 72, 6. Marini 59.
