The second Moto2™ Friday of the 2020 season belonged to Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) at the Gran Premio Red Bull de España, the Italian topping the timesheets in FP1 and FP2 to lay down the gauntlet to his rivals. Thanks to his FP1 time, Jorge Navarro (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) sits P2 as the Spaniard splits the SKY Racing Team VR46 duo inside the top three – Marco Bezzecchi sitting third overall.
He's done it again! ????@Luca_Marini_97 doubles up on Friday, this time with teammate @Marco12_B in tow! ????#SpanishGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/0L0o4y3KdW
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) July 17, 2020
Much like it was in the MotoGP™ class, it was clear from the early stages that the Moto2™ riders were going to struggle to better their FP1 times that were set in cooler track temperatures. Ground temperatures were well into the 50s for the intermediate class, but Marini looked as comfortable as he did in the morning session, going P1 on his fourth flying lap. And it wasn’t until teammate Bezzecchi went quicker than Marini had a two-tenths buffer over his rivals.
Both the Italians looked strong in both sessions on Friday as they worked in tandem for a brief period in FP2, but it wasn’t such a straightforward afternoon for the man second overall. Navarro’s bike suffered some sort of issue and the Spaniard had to pull to the side of the track down the back straight, a slight disruption to his afternoon’s running. Nevertheless, Navarro was able to get back out and finish P6 in FP2, with the times – just as they were in FP1 – very close, despite Marini leading both sessions. Championship leader Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was another man to look comfortable across Friday’s action, finishing P3 in FP2 and P4 overall, with rookie Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team Moto2) finishing P4 in FP2 after claiming P17 in FP1.
That doesn't look like a practice start! ????@Jorge_Navarro9's Speed Up machine has stopped on the back straight! ????#SpanishGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/nfVKGuFsOx
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) July 17, 2020
However, the times remained unchanged from FP1. Behind the leading trio sits Nagashima and Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) – the German finishing P7 in FP2 – with Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) showing well in both sessions too to end the day P6 on the combined times. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) claims P7 on the opening day in Jerez with Fabio Di Giannantonio (HDR Heidrun Speed Up), Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing) and Hafizh Syahrin (Inde Aspar Team Moto2) completing the top 10.
Andi Farid Izdihar (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) crashed unhurt at Turn 2 early in the afternoon session – rider ok.
Marini is the man to beat then in the Moto2™ class, but FP3 could see a proper shake-up to the top 14 automatic Q2 positions in the cooler morning temperatures. Be sure not to miss that at 10:55 local time (GMT+2).
Top 10 combined:
1. Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) – 1:41.410
2. Jorge Navarro (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) + 0.048
3. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.315
4. Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.326
5. Marcel Schrotter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) + 0.342
6. Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) + 0.371
7. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.375
8. Fabio Di Giannantonio (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) + 0.450
9. Joe Roberts (Tennor American Racing) + 0.472
10. Hafizh Syahrin (Inde Aspar Team Moto2) + 0.478
Click here for Friday's results!