Red Bull KTM Ajo's Remy Gardner left it late to jump to the top of the timesheets in the opening Moto2™ session at the Red Bull Grand Prix of Spain, eventually ending up over a tenth clear of SKY Racing Team VR46's Marco Bezzecchi. The intermediate class World Championship leader posted a 1:41.675 with his final flying lap of FP1 to move to within just half a second of the all-time Jerez lap record.
Third overall on Friday morning was Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) but the Briton's session was overshadowed by a late crash at Turn 6. Fortunately, the Doha dominator walked away after the front-end of his Kalex machine folded down the hill into Pedrosa corner.
A late crash for @SamLowes_22 in FP1! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) April 30, 2021
The Brit got caught under the bike but all is OK! ????#Moto2 | #SpanishGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/k2G52agxxr
The top six were separated by only a quarter of a second as Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Jorge Navarro (Lightech Speed Up) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) all proved they're contenders for victory this weekend.
Lowes wasn't the only man to crash out late on with Aron Canet (Inde Aspar Team), Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Tomasso Marcon (MV Agusta Forward Racing) all having a taste of the Jerez gravel traps late in the session. The intermediate class are back out on track at 15:10 local time for FP2.
Top 10:
1. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – 1:41.675
2. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.122
3. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.234
4. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.235
5. Jorge Navarro (Lightech Speed Up) + 0.243
6. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 0.249
7. Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.279
8. Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 0.419
9. Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team) + 0.497
10. Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 0.534