Canet tops a tense Practice in Qatar

After a lack of running in Practice 1 due to rainfall, it was due to be an exciting session for Moto2™. Four riders had a lap time set on Friday – all in wet conditions – with Practice 2 set to be the deciding factor for the Q2 slots. It was a hectic session, with Zonta van der Goorbergh (RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP) leading the field in the early stages of the session.

However, as the clock hit zero, Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) smashed the lap record after setting a 1:57.176, ending Practice in first. Somkiat Chantra (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) ended his session in second after a strong showing in Practice, ahead of Tony Arbolino (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) who was third at the end, a further 0.096 behind. Behind the front three was Championship favourite, Fermin Aldeguer (Sync SpeedUp) in fourth, with Ai Ogura (MT Helmets – MSI) rounding out the top five.

Zonta van der Goorbergh held onto sixth, ahead of Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2™) in seventh. Sergio Garcia (MT Helmets – MSI) was eighth, and ahead of Darryn Binder (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo) who rounded out the top 10. Marcos Ramirez (OnlyFans American Racing Team), Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika GAS UP Team), Alonso Lopez (Sync SpeedUp), and Izan Guevara rounded out the 14 riders who will go to Q2.

The red flag came out early on after Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Aspar Team) suffered from a crash at turn 13. This means Dixon will have to go through Q1 later today with big names such as Filip Salac (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and OnlyFans American Racing Team's Joe Roberts.

Moto2™ will return to action at 17:45 local time (UTC +3) on Saturday for the first Qualifying of the year, so make sure you keep up to date on motogp.com!