Marco Bezzecchi and Augusto Fernandez both moved into the top three for the day, but Friday Free Practice belongs to the veteran Swiss rider
Thomas Luthi’s (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) 1:50.140 from Friday morning means he remains in P1 as the rain continued to fall during FP2 at the Octo Grand Prix of San Marino. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) both improved their times to move into the top three, but they still couldn’t catch the veteran Swiss rider.
Change in the Q2 places
As has been the story of Friday in Misano, the gloomy grey clouds overhead meant that the wet track never had the chance to dry up as the intermediate class returned to the track for a second wet session of the day.
Bezzecchi set out the stall early, putting in a couple of fast laps to move to within 0.028s of P1 while Augusto Fernandez took a similar approach in recording his fastest lap of the day to move into third on the combined timesheets, and second for the session.
The top three would remain unchallenged with Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) recording a time good enough to put him fourth for the day before going down in a fast crash at the end of the session. Nicolo Bulega also found himself riding through the gravel but, like Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing), his morning time was enough to keep him in the top six.
The likes of Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing), Hafizh Syarhin (NTS RW Racing GP) and Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) all took the chance to move safely into the top 10 and the Q2 places.
Who should be worried ahead of FP3?
Red Bull KTM Ajo duo and title frontrunners Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez both sit well outside the automatic Q2 places and will be hoping for drier conditions on Saturday morning. It’s the same story for Aron Canet (Inde Apsar Team) and Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia), two podium finishers who struggled in the tough track conditions, and they will have their sights set on a change of fortunes during FP3.
Moto2™ will be back on track at 10:55 local time. Make sure you follow all the action as it unfolds on motogp.com.
Top 10 combined:
1. Thomas Luthi (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team) – 1:50.140
2. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.028
3. Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.177
4. Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 0.286
5. Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 0.438
6. Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 0.483
7. Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 0.559
8. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.578
9. Hafizh Syahrin (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 0.747
10. Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) + 0.815
Source: MotoGP.com – Read Full Article Here