Dixon tops his first Moto2™ session in crash strewn FP3

The Briton jumped to the top with his final lap of a session that saw 12 riders crash and Alex Marquez pull off a save of a sensational save

Gaviota Angel Nieto Team’s Jake Dixon has topped a Moto2™ session for the first time in his career after battling back from an earlier crash at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan to end quickest thanks to his final lap of FP3. Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) obviously remained top of the combined timesheets with the rain continuing to fall at the Twin-Ring Motegi, but the World Championship leader stole the headlines for a different reason today - a save of the century candidate!

Dixon, despite ending fastest, was one of 12 riders to crash out during what was an incident-filled Moto2™ session. He joined a list containing Idemitsu Honda Team Asia duo Dimas Ekky Pratama and Somkiat Chantra, Dixon’s Gaviota Angel Nieto teammate Xavi Cardelus, Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Philipp Oettl (Red Bull KTM Tech 3), Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46), Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP40), Iker Lecuona (monday.com American Racing), Adam Norrodin (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP).

Following on from two crashes in Friday’s FP2, ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team’s Remy Gardner kept it upright in FP3 to end the session second quickest. Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) ended one-hundredth of a second clear of his teammate Bulega, with the pair third and fourth respectively, before Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) rounded out the top five.

Qualifying for the intermediate class fires into life at 13:30 local time (GMT+9) for Q1 before Q2 kicks off 25 minutes later. After a debutant topped FP3, will we see a brand-new face on pole position for Sunday’s Moto2™ race? Tune in to find out!

Top 10 in FP3:
1. Jake Dixon (Gaviota Angel Nieto Team) – 2:03.259
2. Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) + 0.369
3. Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.596
4. Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.606
5. Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) + 0.745
6. Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Temporary Forward) + 0.843
7. Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) + 1.126
8. Iker Lecuona (monday.com American Racing) + 1.164
9. Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) + 1.240
10. Bo Bendsneyder (NTS RW Racing GP) + 1.259

Click here to view the combined Free Practice timesheets!

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