Despite being unable to improve his lap time in Moto2™ FP2 at the Gran Premio Michelin® de Aragon, Augusto Fernandez (FlexBox HP 40) is the rider to beat heading into Saturday courtesy of his FP1 time. The Spaniard’s 1:52.474 is enough to head second fastest Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46), with Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP 40) completing the top three on Day 1.
#Moto2 FP2 comes to an end with @Luca_Marini_97 on top of the times! ????
— MotoGP™ ???????? (@MotoGP) September 20, 2019
He continues his recent strong form! ????#AragonGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/K4qCKVntfb
Both Fernandez and Marini had over a sixth tenth advantage heading into FP2 at MotorLand Aragon and for the large part, in terms of riders improving their lap times during the afternoon, the session was quiet. However, after finishing FP1 in a solid sixth, Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) had managed to improve his combined time to climb into the top three behind Fernandez and Marini, with Championship leader Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) also improving his time to go back to fourth after the British rider had bumped him down a spot to fifth.
Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) then put his Kalex chassis into P4 on the combined times before he stopped on track with some sort of issue. It was session over for the Swiss rider, while Marini was busy setting the fastest lap of the session – but not overall. Baldassarri finished third in FP1 and he soon found himself back in the same position on the combined times as the clock ticked down in FP2. Meanwhile, Fernandez was struggling to find time in the afternoon as the Misano winner took the flag in P8, but he would remain quickest overall.
Despite topping FP2 by over two tenths, Marini wouldn’t beat his Friday morning time as he remains behind Fernandez heading into Saturday’s action. Baldassarri’s P2 in FP2 means the top three overall are the top three from FP1, but the latter was able to find time in the afternoon to close the gap from 0.8 to 0.6. Lowes’ good day continued in FP2, the Brit found three tenths in FP2 to climb from P6 to P4 on the combined charts.
Title race leader Marquez sits over six tenths off his main rival on Day 1 at his home Grand Prix, the Spaniard slips down one place to P5 from his FP1 P4 finish after Lowes was able to leapfrog ahead of him. Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Iker Lecuona (American Racing KTM) – the top KTM rider on Day 1 – climbed the combined standings during the final 10 minutes of FP2 from outside the top 10, with Lecuona improving drastically from his P19 in FP1. Lüthi was able to keep a top 10 in P8 despite his late drama, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) finishing ninth in both FP1 and FP2. ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team’s Tetsuta Nagashima ended Friday in P10 having landed himself a P5 in FP1, the Japanese rider did improve his time in the second session but dropped down the pecking order.
Fernandez and Marini have been the stand-out riders in the Moto2™ class on Day 1 at MotorLand Aragon, but just 0.4 tenths cover P3 to P16. What will the weather bring on Saturday? If it’s dry, the riders currently outside the top 14 will get a chance to change that. If we have a downpour, your top 14 from Friday will be your automatic Q2 riders. Moto2™ FP3 begins at 10:55 local time (GMT+2) – tune in!
Top 10 combined:
1. Augusto Fernandez (FlexBox HP 40) 1:52.474
2. Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.278
3. Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP 40) + 0.629
4. Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 0.637
5. Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) + 0.657
6. Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.683
7. Iker Lecuona (American Racing Team) + 0.685
8. Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) + 0.723
9. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.797
10. Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) + 0.893
Click here for the full results!