Dixon takes Friday honours in Moto2™

Jake Dixon is in the box seat to get through to Q2 at the Gran Premio d’Italia Oakley after the Inde GASGAS Aspar Team rider was fastest on the opening day of action in Moto2™. While he was unable to improve in FP2 on his 1:51.966 from earlier on Friday at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, the mercury was climbing well into the 30s, and few riders did go quicker in the afternoon. Whether they will get a genuine chance to up their pace in FP3 will now depend very much on if it gets wet on Saturday morning or not.

FP1 sets the tone for the day – and perhaps for qualifying

Even once the chequered flag had flown on FP2 and riders had completed their final laps, five of the top six on the combined timesheet were there courtesy of laps which they had set in FP1. Behind Dixon, Le Mans race winner Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) continues to hold down second spot on a 1:52.282, and it is still Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) in third on a 1:52.346.

Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Filip Salac (Gresini Racing Moto2™) also did their best work in FP1, at least so far as the stopwatch is concerned, finishing up fifth- and sixth-quickest for the two sessions overall. At this stage, it is looking likely that they will advance directly to Q2 because forecasts of rain for Saturday morning are firming.

Chantra regroups after his FP1 crash

Idemitsu Honda Team Asia’s Somkiat Chantra had an FP1 to forget thanks to a painful crash at Arrabbiata 2 (Turn 9). He was sent for an x-ray on his right elbow which came back negative, meaning the Thai rider was fit to go back out in FP2, and that would be a very handy development indeed. Chantra was ninth after FP1 with a 1:52.899, a time which would not have been good enough to get him into the all-important combined top 14 due to the improvements of some of the slower riders from the earlier session.

However, the Indonesian GP winner would set the very fastest lap of FP2, a 1:52.350 which puts him fourth overall. World Championship leader Celestino Vietti (Mooney VR46 racing Team) is also into Q2 for now, with the 12th-fastest time of the day, and fellow heavy-hitter Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) is three positions better off on the timesheet. However, Chantra’s Idemitsu Honda Team Asia team-mate Ai Ogura is on the outside looking in, with P17 against his name.

Will the rain hold off, and given Chantra another chance to get into Q2? Find out when FP3 takes place on Saturday, from 10:55 (GMT +2).

Moto2™ Top 10 on Friday:
1. Jake Dixon (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) – 1:51.966
2. Augusto Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.316
3. Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40) + 0.380
4. Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) + 0.384
5. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.395
6. Filip Salac (Gresini Racing Moto2) + 0.504
7. Albert Arenas (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.515
8. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.584
9. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.687
10. Niccolò Antonelli (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) + 0.689

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