Elías steps up to post best second session time

Toni Elías took the psychological edge in the Moto2 class on Saturday morning when he set the best time of the second practice session, in preparation for the afternoon qualifying. The Spanish rider’s lap of 1’39.608 placed him at the top of the timesheet, just eight-thousandths of a second ahead of Andrea Iannone.

The Italian of the Fimmco Speed Up team edged in front of Yuki Takahashi (Tech3 Moto2) as the top three in the session were separated by less than five-hundredths. Blusens-STX rider Yonny Hernández placed fourth, in between Takahashi and his fifth placed team-mate Raffaele de Rosa.

Alex Debón (Aeroport de Castelló-Ajo) on his FTR was the sixth rider to get within a tenth of Elías, with Axel Pons (Tenerife 40 Pons), Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda PTT Singha-SAG), Alex de Angelis (RSM Team Scot) and Sergio Gadea (Tenerife 40 Pons) completing a tightly packed top ten on the timesheet.

Championship leader Shoya Tomizawa was 21st fastest, and there were non-consequential crashes for Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) who was 15th, and Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing). The top 26 on the timesheet were all within one second of Elías.

The Moto2 qualifying session is due to start at 3.10pm local time.