Lüthi leads Lowes on Day 1 in Argentina

Two former MotoGP™ riders lead the way in the Moto2™ class on Friday in Termas de Rio Hondo, as a second covers the top 22

Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) leads the way after the opening two Free Practice sessions at the Gran Premio Motul de la República Argentina, setting a 1:43.353 in FP2 to lead Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) by 0.092.

As expected, with the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit getting quicker as the laps are churned out, FP2 saw every intermediate class rider improve their times from FP1. And it was the two former MotoGP™ riders who rose to the top of the times at the end of Friday – Lüthi and Lowes split by less than a tenth.

Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) closed the opening day in Argentina in P3 after finishing eighth in FP1. The Australian finished just over a tenth off Lüthi, while also channelling his inner Marc Marquez to save a crash in FP2 at Turn 5. Augusto Fernandez (FlexBox HP 40) had a solid day at the office in fourth, he too just over a tenth back from Lüthi, with rookie Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) jumping up to finish on the combined FP1 and FP2 timesheets on his final lap of the day – 0.252 separating the top five.

Just 0.008 behind Bulega was teammate Luca Marini, the Italian duo going around in tandem in FP2, with compatriot and Qatar GP race winner Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP 40) seventh fastest so far in Argentina. Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) is the first non-Kalex rider on the timesheets, the Spaniard ending 0.292 from Lüthi, with countryman and reigning Moto3™ World Champion Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) having a good opening day in ninth. Qatar GP pole man Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) closes out the top ten on Friday as just 0.357 covers the ten fastest riders.

Turn 5 swallowed up a few riders in FP2. Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), Khairul Idham Pawi (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and the Italtrans Racing duo of Andrea Locatelli and rookie Enea Bastianini all lost the front – riders ok.

With just over a second covering the top 22 riders in the intermediate class on Friday, qualifying day is looking like a tasty prospect. But first, the riders have another chance to guarantee themselves an automatic Q2 place when FP3 begins at 09:55 local time (GMT-3). The top 14 after that session will be straight into the pole position shootout, the rest will fight for a top four place in Q1 to join them.

Top ten FP2:
1. Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) 1:43.353
2. Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 0.092
3. Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) + 0.124
4. Augusto Fernandez (FlexBox HP 40) + 0.165
5. Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.252
6. Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.260
7. Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP 40) + 0.280
8. Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) + 0.292
9. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.298
10. Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) + 0.357

Click here for the full results!

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