Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) meant business at the IndianOil Grand Prix of India as he took full control of Friday morning's Practice 1 session. The Thai rider was one of the only riders to have ridden the circuit before and put down a solid 1:52.596 to lead the way after Moto2™'s debut session at the Buddh International Circuit. The KTM prodigy Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) put in consistently fast laps to control the session from the top, but was denied the top spot in the end as he fell +0.282s short of a late-charging Chantra. Ai Ogura (IDEMITsU Honda Team Asia) joined his teammate at the top of the timesheets to take P3, with the Japanese rider looking in fine form ahead of the weekend's racing action.
He's just on fire! 🔥@somkiat35 tames his bike at very last to find four tenths! He takes top honours in P1! 🤩#IndianGP 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/KlYuXQ5Szo
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 22, 2023
Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) started his India GP as he means to go on with a positive P4 ahead of the hard-charging Filip Salac (QJMOTOR Gresini Racing Moto2™) who rounded out the top five. It's looking more positive in the Elf MarcVDS Racing box as Tony Arbolino was threatening the top spots during the sessions. Looking to reignite his title campaign, the Italian finished Practice 1 in P6.
The same couldn't be said for Arbolino's compatriot Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing), who recently pushed Pedro Acosta for a Misano GP victory. Vietti suffered an early-session crash which brought out the red flags. The Italian then struggled to learn the new circuit and finished the session in P25.
Make sure to tune in as the story unfolds with Practice 2 at 14:20 local time (GMT +5:30).
Top 10
| 1 | Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) | 1:52.596 |
| 2 | Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | + 0.282 |
| 3 | Ai Ogura (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) | + 0.899 |
| 4 | Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) | + 0.961 |
| 5 | Filip Salac (Gresini Racing Moto2™) | + 1.064 |
| 6 | Tony Arbolino (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) | + 1.160 |
| 7 | Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha VR46 Master Camp Team) | + 1.200 |
| 8 | Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) | + 1.212 |
| 9 | Dennis Foggia (Italtrans Racing Team) | + 1.242 |
| 10 | Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) | + 1.242 |