Takahashi tops wet FP2 in Estoril

The rain poured down immediately after the MotoGP FP2 session which meant a quiet second practice session with many riders deciding to stay in their pit boxes and save wet tyres.

Moriwaki machines took the first three spots in FP2 and it was Takahashi again who proved to be the fastest man in both wet and dry conditions. The Gresini Racing rider has never finished in the top five in his appearances at this Estoril circuit and will be riding in memory of his late brother. Takahashi’s fastest time was 1’51.606, which was 0.354s quicker than his nearest challenger.

Ricky Cardús (QMMF Racing Team) who was 11th in FP1, was heading the timesheets until the last few minutes when he was edged out by Takahashi. The 23 year-old missed out on his chance to be top of the pack when a broken panel off his bike flew off and he took a tumble at Turn 6, therefore preventing him trying to retain the quickest time.

Fellow rookie Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2) produced a late effort in the damp conditions to finish third fastest after a top five time in the morning session.

The top two in the Moto2 Championship, Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) and Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) did not attempt a lap time and were amongst a group of 20 riders who preferred to stay in the pits.

Bradley Smith (Tech 3) who has finished third at Estoril the last two years in the 125cc category was fourth quickest, ahead of Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) who won the race here in 2010 after crashing on the sighting lap and starting from the back row of the grid. Randy Krummenacher (GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing) on the Kalex in his debut year in the Moto2 class was sixth.

Rounding out the top ten were Xavier Simeon (Tech 3 B) from Belgium, Raffaele De Rosa (G22 Racing Team) from Italy and Spaniard Javier Forés (Mapfre Aspar). Britain’s Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) was tenth and he finished in fourth place in the Moto2 race last season.