Buriram Moto3 FP2 Thailand Grand Prix: Sasaki the fastest, but Kornfeil the strongest

While the Moto3 world championship is still uncertain, with Jorge Martin leading Marco Bezzecchi by only 13 points, the first Moto3 free practice session during this Thai Grand Prix brought a little extra suspense by placing this morning the championship leader in a very modest 16th place, more than a second behind his Italian rival.

No explanation for this relative poor performance having yet been given, this FP2 will bring, or not, confirmation of this state of affairs in the Honda Gresini team, while on the contrary, we achieved the double in the KTM clan, PruestlGP.

Note the presence of the local wildcard Somkiat Chantra who usually races in the European Talent Cup, 8th this morning.

It is now 30° in the air and 44° on the track, conditions which are starting to be a little difficult.

Buriram Moto3™
FP1	1'43.415 Jakub Kornfeil
FP2	1'43.468 Ayumu Sasaki

The session begins with the minor fall of Marco Bezzecchi at turn 4, more significant than that of the guest driver Somkiat Chantra who obviously wants to shine in front of his audience.

In his 4nd flying lap, Tatsuki suzuki, particularly in good shape this morning, breaks the 1'44 mark in 1'43.830.

Halfway through the session, Tony Arbolino (Honda, Marinelli Snipers Team) lowers the provisional reference to 1'43.737 on a not very abrasive asphalt while Jorge Martin still appears in relative difficulty in 19th position.

As the final rush approaches, the hierarchy is made up of Tony Arbolino (Honda, Marinelli Snipers Team), Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse), Fabio DiGiannantonio (Honda, Del Conca Gresini), Nicholas Bulega (KTM, Sky Racing Team VR46), Marco Bezzecchi (KTM, PruestlGP), gabriel rodrigo (KTM, RBA BOE Skull Rider), Apiwath Wongthananon (KTM, VR46 Master Camp Team), Jaume Masia (KTM, Bester Capital Dubai), Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Honda, Leopard Racing) and John McPhee (KTM, CIP – Green Power) while the first 25 drivers are within the same second.

Finally, the Japanese pilot Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing), winner of the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies cup in 2016, set the best time in 1'43.468 as the session ended with the collision between John McPhee (KTM, CIP – Green Power) and Vicente Perez (Royal Avintia Academy).

In combination, Jakub Kornfeil remains the fastest of the day.

Moto3 Thailand Grand Prix FP2 ranking:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com