Aspar rider on top as the World Championship leader crashes on Friday afternoon at Buriram
Inde GASGAS Aspar Team rider Jake Dixon has finished fastest in Friday’s running for the Moto2™ field at the OR Thailand Grand Prix. Certainly not resting on his laurels just days after the announcement of his contract renewal, Dixon set a 1:36.280 which left him 0.173 seconds clear of the field when the music stopped in FP2 at the Chang International Circuit. Alonso Lopez (Beta Tools Speed Up) claimed second and World Championship leader Augusto Fernandez did enough to be third-fastest before his late spill. Title rival and Japanese GP winner Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) finished seventh on the timesheet and, in the event of rain on Saturday morning, he too is safely through to Q2.
It was sunshine and dry weather that greeted the intermediate class for FP2, however, and Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was first to better Fernandez’s FP1 benchmark when he clocked a 1:36.750 just eight minutes into proceedings. Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) dusted himself off from an early crash to up the pace to a 1:36.597, before Lopez bounced back from a frustrating morning session – when his Boscoscuro had a technical problem – to take over top spot with a 1:36.453. Dixon, however, would go quickest of all in the last eight minutes before the chequered flag.
Dixon and Lopez therefore finished first and second, with Fernandez third on the 1:36.564 which he got in before losing the front at Turn 3 in the 38th minute – rider okay. Chantra’s aforementioned lap time left him fourth, ahead of Acosta, Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team), and Ogura on a 1:36.725. Rounding out the top 10 were Jorge Navarro (Flexbox HP40), Jeremy Alcoba (Liqui Moly Intact GP), and Fermin Aldeguer (Beta Tools Speed Up).
Who else is in Q2 – and who isn’t – at the moment?
Filip Salac (Gresini Racing Moto2™) is provisionally into Q2 also despite a spill at Turn 3 with five minutes to go. He sits 11th, ahead of Albert Arenas (Inde GASGAS Aspar Team), Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team), and Cameron Beaubier (American Racing). Aron Canet (Flexbox HP40), however, is outside the top 14 after a second crash of the day when he lost the front at Turn 12. The Spaniard is 16th, and another notable who will be hoping the rain…