Grand Prix of the Czech Republic Brno Moto2 FP1: Nagashima attacks hard

Moto2 resumes its season after four weeks of summer break which also marked a halt to the triumphant march of Álex Márquez. At the head of four victories, he leads the championship ahead of the regular Lüthi who does not give up. Behind, it was Augusto Fernández who took charge while we expect a lot from KTM and Brad Binder. The latter announced a brand new motorcycle with a lot of work on the front. For a twist?

Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the past events in Brno, scene of this Grand Prix of the Czech Republic…

Brno Moto2™	2018	2019
FP1	2'03.854 Marcel Schrötter
FP2	2'03.118 Marcel Schrötter
FP3	2'02.643 Francesco Bagnaia
Q1	XXX
Q2	2'02.244 Luca Marini
warm up	2'03.232 Joan Mir
Course	Oliveira, Marini, Mir
All time lap record	2'01.581 Johann Zarco (2016)

24° in the air and 29° on the track, all under an overcast sky but with clearing periods: these are the conditions offered to the pilots for the 40 minutes of exercise. We remind you of the summer news: Brad Binder signed for MotoGP with the Red Bull KTM Tech3 team, the duo of the Pons team made up of Baldassarri and Fernandez will be renewed in 2020 and lecuona will be a KTM official at next year. On the championship side, here is the situation…

Pasini rides for Tasca Racing. He celebrates with the first reference in 2'03.540. Alex Marquez which follows is practically a second away… After ten minutes, Binder reduced the gap to seven tenths on his revised KTM. But Fernández, Bastianini et Schrötter do better by also going below the 2'04 per lap mark.

Alex Marquez reacted once the first quarter of an hour had passed by settling into second with a 2'03.666.

As we approach the last fifteen minutes, things remain as they are with, in particular, a Lüthi only twelfth. Marini is fourth. Baldassarri is a distant 19th. NAVARRO puts the Speed ​​Up chassis in the top 5. But Open up takes his place as the last part of the session begins.

In 2'03.255, Remy gardner announces the opening of the time hunt. Bendsneyder confirms with his NTS, approaching a tenth of the Australian's performance. But Pasini opens a new path with his 2'02.534. Here is the competition pushed back to half a second!

Brad Binder responds but also Nagashima which puts the cursor at 2'02.080. We will leave it there with one Fernandez who still climbs fourth, pushing back Pasini at the gates of the top 5 held by Lüthi. Open up et lecuona follow. Alex Marquez is only 19th.

Grand Prix of the Czech Republic Brno Moto2 FP1: times

1	45	Tetsuit NAGASHIMA	Kalex	2'02.080
2	41	Brad BINDER	KTM	2'02.140	0.060	0.060
3	40	Augusto FERNÁNDEZ	Kalex	2'02.141	0.061	0.001
4	54	Matthias PASINI	Kalex	2'02.257	0.177	0.116
5	12	Thomas LÜTHI	Kalex	2'02.590	0.510	0.333
6	11	Nicolò BULEGA	Kalex	2'02.657	0.577	0.067
7	27	Iker LECUONA	KTM	2'02.738	0.658	0.081
8	9	Jorge NAVARRO	Speed ​​Up	2'02.755	0.675	0.017
9	22	Sam LOWES	Kalex	2'02.863	0.783	0.108
10	87	Remy GARDNER	Kalex	2'02.963	0.883	0.100
11	5	Andrea LOCATELLI	Kalex	2'02.967	0.887	0.004
12	10	Luca MARINI	Kalex	2'03.001	0.921	0.034
13	97	Xavi VIRGIN	Kalex	2'03.011	0.931	0.010
14	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	Speed ​​Up	2'03.035	0.955	0.024
15	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	Kalex	2'03.128	1.048	0.093
16	64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NTS	2'03.237	1.157	0.109
17	88	Jorge MARTIN	KTM	2'03.374	1.294	0.137
18	4	Steven ODENDAAL	NTS	2'03.451	1.371	0.077
19	73	Alex MARQUEZ	Kalex	2'03.505	1.425	0.054
20	35	Somkiat CHANTRA	Kalex	2'03.565	1.485	0.060
21	62	Stefano MANZI	MV Agusta	2'03.575	1.495	0.010
22	23	Marcel SCHRÖTTER	Kalex	2'03.642	1.562	0.067
23	72	Marco BEZZECCHI	KTM	2'03.738	1.658	0.096
24	96	Jake DIXON	KTM	2'03.769	1.689	0.031
25	33	Enea BASTIANINI	Kalex	2'03.785	1.705	0.016
26	65	Philipp ÖTTL	KTM	2'04.333	2.253	0.548
27	89	Khairul Idham PAWI	Kalex	2'04.497	2.417	0.164
28	77	Dominique AEGERTER	MV Agusta	2'04.926	2.846	0.429
29	16	Joe ROBERTS	KTM	2'05.080	3.000	0.154
30	3	Lukas TULOVIC	KTM	2'05.430	3.350	0.350
31	20	Dimas EKKY PRATAMA	Kalex	2'05.500	3.420	0.070
32	18	Xavi CARDELUS	KTM	2'05.607	3.527	0.107