Pol Espargaro denied the British fans a home 1-2 in Friday Practice after a scintillating lap late in the second Moto2 session. The Spaniard was quickest in damp conditions earlier in the day and showed a good turn of pace in the dry too, going a second faster than the current circuit record.
Scott Redding and Espargaro were dead level at one point before the Marc VDS rider put breathing space between himself and Espargaro. Bradley Smith then showed signs that Tech 3 were starting to make strides towards the front with the second fastest time but Espargaro's late flyer put half a second into the British pair.
Marc Marquez was one of many riders to have a lap time cancelled due to exceeding the track limits on the exit of Club and finished fourth fastest with Johann Zarco and Alex De Angelis completing the top six. Toni Elias, another rider to fall foul of the final corner, took seventh despite having a lap time deleted ahead of a trio of Italians who rounded out the top ten, Claudio Corti, Andrea Iannone and Simone Corsi.
Redding and Smith weren't the only Brits to excel with Gino Rea finishing the afternoon in an excellent twelfth on the Gresini Suter. Championship leader Thomas Luthi didn't enjoy his day's work quite as much and ended up two seconds off the pace in nineteenth, largely down to a crash, and will hope for much better tomorrow.
Moto2 Hertz British Grand Prix: Combined Friday Practice Times
Pos | Rider | Constructor | Team | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pol Espargaro | Kalex | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | 2:08.826 |
2 | Scott Redding | Kalex | Marc VDS Racing Team | +0.509 |
3 | Bradley Smith | Tech 3 | Tech 3 Racing | +0.707 |
4 | Marc Marquez | Suter | Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol | +0.727 |
5 | Johann Zarco | Motobi | JIR Moto2 | +0.892 |
6 | Alex De Angelis | Suter | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | +0.968 |
7 | Toni Elias | Suter | Mapfre Aspar Team | +1.226 |
8 | Claudio Corti | Kalex | Italtrans Racing Team | +1.259 |
9 | Andrea Iannone | Speed Up | Speed Master | +1.270 |
10 | Simone Corsi | FTR | Came IodaRacing Project | +1.517 |
11 | Mike Di Meglio | Speed Up | S/Master Speed Up | +1.844 |
12 | Gino Rea | Suter | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | +1.856 |
13 | Mika Kallio | Kalex | Marc VDS Racing Team | +1.923 |
14 | Axel Pons | Kalex | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | +1.963 |
15 | Randy Krummenacher | Suter | GP Team Switzerland | +2.024 |
16 | Dominique Aegerter | Suter | Technomag-CIP | +2.069 |
17 | Roberto Rolfo | Suter | Technomag-CIP | +2.107 |
18 | Max Neukirchner | Kalex | Kiefer Racing | +2.198 |
19 | Thomas Luthi | Suter | Interwetten-Paddock | +2.230 |
20 | Nicolas Terol | Suter | Mapfre Aspar Team | +2.268 |
21 | Ratthapark Wilairot | Suter | Thai Honda Gresini Moto2 | +2.341 |
22 | Ricard Cardus | AJR | Arguiñano Racing Team | +2.967 |
23 | Angel Rodriguez | Bimota | SAG Team | +3.056 |
24 | Esteve Rabat | Kalex | Pons 40 HP Tuenti | +3.222 |
25 | Takaaki Nakagami | Kalex | Italtrans Racing Team | +3.412 |
26 | Julian Simon | FTR | Blusens Avintia | +3.604 |
27 | Yuki Takahashi | Suter | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | +3.736 |
28 | Xavier Simeon | Tech 3 | Tech 3 Racing | +4.500 |
29 | Anthony West | Moriwaki | QMMF Racing Team | +4.637 |
30 | A. Andreozzi (WC) | FTR | Andreozzi Reparto Corse | +7.055 |
31 | Marco Colandrea | FTR | SAG Team | +7.075 |
32 | Alexander Lundh | MZ-RE Honda | Cresto Guide MZ Racing | +7.578 |
33 | Eric Granado | Motobi | JIR Moto2 | +7.653 |
34 | Elena Rosell | Moriwaki | QMMF Racing Team | +8.147 |