Ducati Sporting Club UK > News Items > Ducati Press Releases > Bagnaia ends in fifth place on the first day of free practices for the Catalan GP at Montmeló. Seventh place for Miller

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MotoGP | Round 7 - Catalan GP 2021 | Friday 4 June 2021

Bagnaia ends in fifth place on the first day of free practices for the Catalan GP at Montmeló. Seventh place for Jack Miller

• Johann Zarco leads the way with the Desmosedici GP bike of the Pramac Racing Team

The seventh round of the 2021 MotoGP season officially kicked off today with the first day of free practices for the Catalan GP, scheduled this weekend at the Montmeló Circuit, near Barcelona (Spain).

With mostly clear skies and mild temperatures of the asphalt, the Ducati Lenovo Team riders were able to take full advantage of the two free practice sessions as they worked on fine-tuning their bikes ahead of Sunday's race. Francesco Bagnaia, ninth at the end of FP1, was able to improve his lap time by over a second in this afternoon's FP2 by closing fifth overall in the combined standings, 525 thousandths behind Johann Zarco, first with the Desmosedici GP of the Pramac Racing Team.

Jack Miller ended the day also with positive sensations, as he closed Friday seventh overall. The Australian rider completed 29 laps today, setting his best lap (1:39.914), in the final minutes of FP2.

Francesco Bagnaia (#63 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 5th (1:39.760)
"Compared to this morning, in the afternoon, we were able to improve a lot and get the fifth fastest time easily. However, the track has very little grip, so we still have work to do. Compared to the usual, today we adopted a different strategy: we ran mainly with the soft tyre, but we have already understood that it is not the right choice for the race. Tomorrow we will also try the other options available. At the moment, I am satisfied with how the weekend is going, and I am positive about tomorrow's qualifying”.

Jack Miller (#43 Ducati Lenovo Team) - 7th (1:39.914)
"It was a positive first day, and it was nice to see the fans back in the stands after so long! The asphalt grip is really low on this track, so we did many laps today to figure out what strategy to adopt for the race on Sunday. I think we have a clear idea already. Tomorrow we will do some more tests with the hard rear tyre to try to improve some aspects. But, in general, I feel comfortable on my Desmosedici, and I am confident that I can do well again tomorrow”.

The Ducati Lenovo Team will be back on track tomorrow morning from 9:55 am local time for FP3, while qualifying for the Catalan Grand Prix will get underway at 2:10 pm local time, at the end of FP4.