Moto2

Espargaro Sets Friday Pace Once Again At Brno

2 Mins read

Pol Espargaro topped the Friday Practice timesheets for the sixth race running after a superb morning performance at Brno. The Spaniard actually set the pace for an eleventh straight Friday session before Thomas Luthi took over in the afternoon, albeit slower than Pol’s FP1 effort.

The Swiss rider, whose championship hopes have faded recently, was the prominent rider the morning session having taken the lead from Scott Redding eight minutes in and held it throughout. In fact, it wasn’t until Espargaro’s final lap of the session that the leadership changed hands as the Pons Kalex rider pipped him by a tenth of a second.

Luthi was dominant once again in FP2 but this time he wouldn’t be overhauled. Alex de Angelis pulled out a four tenth lead after his first run before losing the lead to Luthi at the halfway point. The 2:03.103 lap which topped the session would prove to be his last though with the Interwetten rider slid off at turn three. Thomas was unhurt, but his bike was in no state to re-join the action.

With both sessions combined, Espargaro edged out Luthi by two hundredths of a second despite the Spaniard finishing fifth in the afternoon with De Angelis’ afternoon effort enough to secure third. Scott Redding picked up where he left off in Indianapolis with a strong fourth in front of  but Marc Marquez was unusually quiet, finishing sixth in both sessions.

Andrea Iannone and Mika Kallio set identical times to finish seventh and eighth with 125cc champion Nicolas Terol ninth ahead of Claudio Corti whose biggest impact was made on the trackside safety fences after a crash in the morning. After a nightmare time in America, Bradley Smith showed improved pace to go eleventh overall and he was joined in the top dozen by Gino Rea who shone in the second session.

 

Moto2 bwin Grand Prix Ceske Republiky: Combined Friday Practice Classification

Pos Rider Constructor Team Time/Gap
1  Pol Espargaro Kalex Pons 40 HP Tuenti 2:03.084
2  Thomas Luthi Suter Interwetten-Paddock +0.019
3  Alex De Angelis FTR NGM Mobile Forward Racing +0.102
4  Scott Redding Kalex Marc VDS Racing Team +0.313
5  Simone Corsi FTR Came IodaRacing Project +0.337
6  Marc Marquez Suter Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol +0.415
7  Andrea Iannone Speed Up Speed Master +0.542
8  Mika Kallio Kalex Marc VDS Racing Team +0.542
9  Nicolas Terol Suter Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 +0.598
10  Claudio Corti Kalex Italtrans Racing Team +0.605
11  Bradley Smith Tech 3 Tech 3 Racing +0.747
12  Gino Rea Suter Federal Oil Gresini +0.772
13  Dominique Aegerter Suter Technomag-CIP +0.791
14  Johann Zarco Motobi JIR Moto2 +0.794
15  Axel Pons Kalex Pons 40 HP Tuenti +0.835
16  Takaaki Nakagami Kalex Italtrans Racing Team +0.859
17  Max Neukirchner Kalex Kiefer Racing +0.860
18  Esteve Rabat Kalex Pons 40 HP Tuenti +0.918
19  Jordi Torres Suter Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 +1.146
20  Julian Simon Suter Blusens Avintia +1.196
21  Mike Di Meglio MZ-RE Honda MZ Racing +1.326
22  Anthony West Speed Up QMMF Racing Team +1.354
23  Xavier Simeon Tech 3 Tech 3 Racing +1.560
24  Ratthapark Wilairot Suter Thai Honda PTT Gresini +1.637
25  Randy Krummenacher Suter GP Team Switzerland +1.640
26  Ricard Cardus AJR Arguiñano Racing Team +1.679
27  Yuki Takahashi FTR NGM Mobile Forward Racing +1.995
28  Roberto Rolfo Suter Technomag-CIP +2.030
29  Marcel Schrotter Bimota Desguaces La Torre SAG +2.912
30  Alessandro Andreozzi Speed Up S/Master Speed Up +3.331
31  Marco Colandrea FTR SAG Team +3.775
32  Eric Granado Motobi JIR Moto2 +4.106
33  Elena Rosell Speed Up QMMF Racing Team +5.968

 

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