Simón on form in Motegi opener

Julián Simón marked down the fastest time in the first practice for the Moto2 class at Motegi on Friday with a lap of 1’54.203 the Mapfre Aspar rider’s signal of intent to the remainder of the intermediate class.

The Spaniard had a fall at the every end of the session but it was a minor incident, as he led Championship frontrunner Toni Elías of the Gresini Racing team on the timesheet. Elías was 0.124s off Simón’s pace, with Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) completing the top three at an almost identical distance further back.

Scott Redding, whom it was announced will continue with the Marc VDS Racing Team for the 2011 and 2012 seasons yesterday, was fourth at just two-thousandths of a second down on De Angelis. Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX) and Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2) completed the top six, with Yusuke Teshima (FCC TSR) the highest placing home rider in the session in seventh.

Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP), Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up) and Claudio Corti (Forward Racing) were all inside the top ten, with race winner last time out at Aragón Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) down in 27th position by the end of the practice.