The Moto3™ field had to deal with a range of conditions in FP2 alone in Thailand
Rain gave way to some rare sunshine and it was Ayumu Sasaki who capitalised in FP2 for the Moto3™ field at the OR Thailand Grand Prix. The Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max rider set a 1:43.503 at the end of the session to be top at the conclusion of Friday running in the lightweight class at the Chang International Circuit. Second went to fellow Japanese rider Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) on a 1:43.694, with Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) third on a 1:44.330. World Championship leader Izan Guevara was classified seventh, six positions ahead of fellow Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team rider – and nearest rival for the title – Sergio Garcia. With the weather looking dicey, that could be the Championship contenders effectively locked into Q2.
Sasaki gets one up on his compatriot
Moto3™ was the only class which had not enjoyed any dry running on Friday morning at Buriram and that looked like being the case for the day as a whole when showers began just before FP2 got underway and turned into a downpour in the early stages. However, the sun then made a cameo and the lap times began to tumble, halfway through the 40-minute session. Rossi had just gone fastest with a 1:51.513s on wets before that was blown out of the water – if you pardon the ironic metaphor – when Suzuki laid down a 1:46.616 after his switch to slicks. Of course, that was not the end of the story.
Suzuki looked like getting the sweep of the Friday sessions – a wet one and a dry one (eventually) – when he set a 1:43.694 in the last two minutes before the chequered flag. However, it was after that came out that compatriot Sasaki denied him the honour with a lap which put him 0.191 seconds clear of the Leopard Honda rider and 0.827 seconds up on Rossi. Red Bull KTM Ajo teammates Daniel Holgado and Jaume Masia rounded out the top five, while Red Bull KTM Tech3’s Deniz Öncü was a highly commendable sixth as he grits his teeth with an injured finger after his highside in Warm Up five days ago at Motegi.
With the possibility of rain on Saturday morning, it was important for Garcia to make the top 14 cut-off for direct passage to Q2 by claiming seventh on a 1:44.570. Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team), Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing), and Scott Ogden (VisionTrack…