World Championship leader Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) is in a familiar position at the top of the timesheets after the opening day of Moto2™ action at the Gran Premio TISSOT de Aragon, but it’s tight. Second place Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) is just 0.007s off Gardner, with injured Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) fighting through the pain to finish a close P3.
Smooth sailing for @GardnerRemy in Aragon! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) September 10, 2021
The Aussie takes top spot in FP2 ????#Moto2 | #AragonGP ???? pic.twitter.com/aFE176cfuX
0.4s covers top 10 – it’s close!
Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) was the first rider to venture into the 1:52s bracket in FP2 as he and Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) improved their morning times early doors. They were the top two riders until the clocked ticked down towards 10 minutes to go, as Augusto Fernandez and then Gardner exchanged P1. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) then climbed to P3 as riders started to find some decent pace in the latter stages of FP2.
Raul Fernandez, nursing a fractured metacarpal in his right hand, was able to slot into P3 in the closing stages to sit less than a tenth away from second place Augusto Fernandez. That meant Diggia dropped to P4 by the end of the session, a good day for the Italian nonetheless after his P6 in FP1, as Lowes completed the top five.
Reigning Moto3™ World Champion Albert Arenas (Kipin Energy Aspar Team) is sixth and is enjoying his first visit to MotorLand on a Moto2™ machine, the Spaniard is 0.003s ahead of seventh place Bezzecchi. Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up) – a crasher at Turn 14 in FP2 – and newly crowned Moto2™ European Champion Fermin Aldeguer (+EGO Speed Up) rounded out the top 10.
A slight mishap for this morning's fastest rider ????@Jorge_Navarro9 slips off at Turn 14 ????#Moto2 | #AragonGP ???? pic.twitter.com/OSUQNCKlw6
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) September 10, 2021
Just 0.4s covers the aforementioned riders, so the battle for FP3 honours and pole position looks set to be a very good one. Tune into Moto2™ FP3 at 10:55 local time (GMT+2) on Saturday morning to see who will be heading straight into Q2.
Top 10:
1. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – 1:53.988
2. Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.007
3. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.102
4. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 0.105
5. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.228
6. Albert Arenas (Kipin Energy Aspar Team) + 0.280
7. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.283
8. Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 0.300
9. Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up) + 0.357
10. Fermin Aldeguer (+EGO Speed Up) + 0.458