Britain’s Sam Lowes swung into second place with his last run of laps in today’s second Moto2 free practice session at Jerez but it was Jonas Folger who set the pace with a lap almost half a second quicker than the Kalex man.
Lowes left it until the last few minutes to put in final run, setting a 1’43.382 which he then lowered to 1’43.126 but it was no match for Folder, who has previously set a 1’42.667 to go quickest.
Swiss Thomas Luthi saved what should have been an absolute dead cert crash in the session, the side of his bike touching the track before the Swiss rider pushed the bike up on his elbow. Luthi did his quickest lap very early putting in a 1’43.132 on his first flier but then couldn’t better it, ending in third.
However, Taka Nakagami Nakagami remained as the fastest rider of the day thanks to his morning time. For several rounds it has appeared that the Japanese rider is on the cusp of something great, a podium return or perhaps his first win in the Moto2™ class.
But at each round he has been unable to combine all the elements come race day and has so far had a best finish of ninth in 2015. Twice Nakagami has finished inside the top five in Jerez so certainly has the initial pace and historical record to do well.
Third overall was Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Team) thanks to his time in Free Practice 1. Baldassarri joined Nakagami and Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) in being the only three riders inside the top ten to not improve their times in FP2. This is no fluke for the Italian, hard work during multiple private tests at the Jerez circuit paying off on race weekend. All of the top three were under 0.2s from each other.
Practice times are already reaching near breakneck speed, being able to keep the pace over race distance will be a deciding factor on Sunday. This is often what separates championship challengers from podium challengers, the championship contenders able to stay fast throughout the race.
On lap 18 of the second session, Lowes improved enough to end the day in fourth place. The Championship leader was able to get within half a second of Nakagami’s time and, like Baldassarri, is benefiting from a number of private tests at the Spanish circuit.
Luthi’s 1’43.132 would eventually see him conclude the day in fifth position.
Xavier Simeon (QMMF Racing Team), Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport), Dominique Aegerter (CarXpert Interwetten), Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) and Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) filled out the remaining positions of the top ten. Inside the top ten there were seven different nationalities.
Once more Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) struggled to match the pace of the leading riders and ended Friday way down the field in 13th. With all of the top 16 inside a second of the best time, starting high on the grid will be important for Sunday’s race, Rins needing to up his pace overnight or risk getting trapped outside the top five.
Aside from Folger there were a number of falls including Simone Corsi at Turn 6, Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) at Turn 10 and Xavi Vierge (Tech 3) at Turn 2. Both Julian Simon (QMMF Racing Team) and Dominique Aegerter joined Vierge is falling at Turn 2 but fortunately all riders were unhurt and able to return to their teams straight away.
