Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) continued his strong form from the Spanish Grand Prix, topping Day 1 in Le Mans. The Brit snatched Day 1 honours at the SHARK Grand Prix de France with a stunning 1:36.178 as Practice 2 drew to a close. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took charge of the standings halfway through, and despite running into the gravel trap continued to move the benchmark throughout the session. Still, it wasn't enough to stop the charging Lowes as the Spaniard finished the day in P2 by just 0.005s. Alonso Lopez (Lightech SpeedUp) also showed strong pace on Friday ending the day 3rd fastest just 0.093s away from the top spot with Moto2™ as tight as ever with one second covering the top 19.
Sliding but saving it ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) May 12, 2023
That's today's trend in #Moto2 P2! ????#FrenchGP ???????? | #GP1000 pic.twitter.com/JDV2ohspNB
Aron Canet (Pons Wegwow Los40) made an incredible save mid-way through the session as the Spaniard was thrown into a tank-slapper on the exit of the final corner after the rear-end of his Kalex machine stepped out on the paintwork and re-gripped as it caught the tarmac. Despite his heroics, soon after Canet's near-miss was for nothing as the Spaniard crashed out of the session to remount and crash again later on to finish P13.
M-A-S-S-I-V-E moment for Aron Canet ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) May 12, 2023
The Spanish masterfully tamed his sliding Kalex! ????#FrenchGP ???????? | #GP1000 pic.twitter.com/7E1d8WXfY7
Filip Salac (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™) topped Practice 1 and despite improving his time in P2 fell just short of the top 3 as the Czech rider finished the day in P4. Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) was also setting red sectors and threatening the top positions throughout the session with the Italian setting a time 0.313s away from Lowes to round out the top 5.
Moto2™ will be back in action on Saturday for Practice 3 at 9:25 and qualifying at 13:45 local (GMT +1).
Top 10
1. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) – 1:36.178
2. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.005
3. Alonso Lopez (Speed Up Racing) + 0.093
4. Filip Salac (Gresini Racing Moto2™) +0.299
5. Celestino Vietti (FANTIC MOTOR) + 0.313
6. Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.336
7. Tony Arbolino (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.459
8. Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) +0.472
9. Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.666
10. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) + 0.751