Suzuki-bound Andrea Iannone put in a late flying lap to end second practice for the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello fastest, ending up almost half a second clear of nearest rival Jorge Lorenzo. Iannone, whose move from Ducati to Suzuki for 2017 was confirmed Thursday morning, was on the pace in the first dry session for his home race from the outset, leading the way after the first runs with an early benchmark of 1m48.413s. That was just 0.008s clear of Yamaha's Lorenzo, with Marc Marquez's Honda just 0.041s off the pace in third. Shortly after the halfway stage, Maverick Vinales slotted into third, 0.010s slower than Iannone. The order at the top remained like that until the closing stages, as Scott Redding's Pramac Ducati edged out Iannone at the head of the timesheets with a 1m48.406s with seven minutes remaining. A few minutes later, Lorenzo went quickest on a 1m48.157s, before Iannone snatched back P1 with a mesmerizing time of 1m47.696s, which is 1.2s shy of his own lap record set in qualifying last year. Lorenzo therefore had to be content with second, a whole 0.461s down on Iannone and 0.088s up on Ducati wildcard Michele Pirro, who took a surprise third. Aleix Espargaro was fourth on the Suzuki a further 0.025s back, fractionally ahead of Marquez on the best of the Hondas and Valentino Rossi on the second factory Yamaha. Vinales (Suzuki), Redding, Cal Crutchlow (LCR Honda) and Pol Espargaro (Tech 3 Yamaha) completed a top 10 split by just under eight tenths. Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso both languished off the pace of their respective teammates in 11th and 13th places, just ahead of FP1 pacesetter Yonny Hernandez. — Agencies
