Iannone sets Moto2 pointer at Assen

The opening day of action at the TIM TT Assen concluded on Thursday afternoon with the Moto2 first practice, and Italian rider Andrea Iannone was the man who led the intermediate hour-long session with a best time of 1’39.573.

The battle for supremacy raged for most of the practice, with the lead time swapping hands on numerous occasions right up until the final minutes. Iannone’s time on his 24th of 26 laps eventually put him 0.222s ahead of Championship leader Toni Elías (Gresini Racing Moto2), a healthy gap in Moto2 terms.

Elías, the only other rider under the 1’40” mark, was followed by Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT Singha-SAG) who pushed his way into the top three late on and was a further 0.377s down on the Spaniard. Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP), who currently sits second in the overall standings, was fourth.

Forward Racing rider Jules Cluzel, flying high after his first World Championship win last time out at Silverstone, was fifth but ended the hour with a crash that he walked away from with little more than his hopes of improving his time damaged, and his team-mate Claudio Corti was just over a tenth off the Frenchman’s time in sixth.

The top ten in the session was completed by Alex Debón (Aeroport de Castelló-Ajo), Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) – riding with an injured scaphoid – Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up) and Sergio Gadea (Tenerife 40 Pons). British rider Scott Redding (Marc VDS) was 24th, with Alex de Angelis (RSM Team Scot) one place further down on his return to racing after sitting Silverstone out through injury.