Friday completed and first references to Mugello

There were 21 riders of the V2 Future Champ Ducati Academy who, on this Friday, May 8, took their Ducati Panigale V2 machines onto the legendary Mugello asphalt.

Joining the grid of young riders, coming from every corner of the world and already seen in action during the Misano premiere, was Nicola Tonolo with the number 80, confirming how the philosophy of the series is attracting more and more riders day after day.

Meanwhile at Mugello, the opening day has gone into the books, with the V2 protagonists completing the two scheduled free practice sessions. At the end of the day, one name stood out above all others: DD Racing by Ducati Milano rider Martin Galiuto, who set the fastest lap of the day with a time of 1’56’’878. Behind him, respectively 0’’389 and 0’’810 adrift, were Lele Vocino and Devis Bergamini.

Fastest time and a crash for Galiuto, who was involved in a harmless slide at Luco - Poggio Secco shortly after setting the best lap.

Completing the top five were Pierfrancesco Venturini and Kevin Sabatucci, while Misano dominator Jacopo Hosciuc currently sits only eighth, one second and seven tenths behind the leader.

Strong improvements were also shown by Bence Kecskes and Raffaele Tragni, seventh and tenth respectively, both able to shave one full second off their FP1 lap times.

On Saturday, May 9, at 11:55 and 17:45, the two qualifying sessions will take place, determining not only the starting grid for Sunday’s race but also the winner of the Lotus Watches Pole Position Award. Then on Sunday at 10:05, engines will fire up for the 10 laps of the third race.

Martin Galiuto

DD Racing by Ducati Milano

“This morning during the first free practice session we tried a setup that didn’t prove to be satisfactory, so in FP2 we went back to our original choices and I regained a really good feeling with the bike, which allowed me to set the fastest time of the day. Then I made a small mistake at Turn 2, I went a bit wide, hit a bump that caused the front end to tuck, but nothing serious, I’m fine. Now it’s time to go through the technical debriefing, collect the data and focus on Saturday’s sessions!”