The winner of Assen Takaaki Nakagami delivered a great morning battle to Tom Lüthi and Johann Zarco this Friday to finally beat the Swiss by 0.04 and the Frenchman by 0.08. Lorenzo Baldassarri, first Italian classified, defended the transalpine prestige by seizing fourth position.
From the start of the session Tom Luthi took the lead in 1'39.0. Following his victory at Silverstone, the Swiss now has 32 podiums in Moto2, one less than Tito Rabat, who remains to this day the rider having recorded the most top 3s in this category with a total of 33. As in England , his compatriot Dominique Aegerter was out due to his ligament injury in training. Lüthi led 35 minutes from the end Simone Courses, only tenth in the provisional general classification with the best placed Italian motorcycle, the Speed Up. Johann zarco occupied the third position, who needs to score big points here, after losing a plethora of them recently on his main opponent alex rins. The Spaniard, for his part, started the weekend quietly in eleventh position, a little less handicapped by his broken collarbone than at Silverstone.
Sam Lowes preceded him in seventh position, still very unhappy with Zarco's conduct at Silverstone which had deprived him of a good place at home, and a chance to win the title. Sam Lowes has never managed to score a point during its two previous visits to Misano, moreover with the Italian Speed Up against the Kalex, the Suter, the TSR and the Mistral. Two years ago the Briton could not do better than eighteenth and in 2015 he was forced to retire following a tire problem. At 25 minutes from the end Sam preceded “the other man from Tavullia” this Friday, Franco Morbidelli then sixth ahead of the Teutonic duo composed of Sandra Cortese et Jonas Folger. Alex Marquez, the teammate of “ Francky Morbido » at Marc VDS, rose to fourth position behind Lüthi, Zarco and Corsi. Tom Lüthi stayed on the soft rear tire, and tried to achieve with the distance of the race.
Alex Rins moved up to third position with 20 minutes to go, behind Lüthi and Zarco. He won here in 2013 and 2014 in Moto3. He was not using analgesics for pain during these tests, like at Silverstone, which may not be the case in racing like in the UK. Tom Lüthi ended a brilliant start to the test session by falling in turn 10, without gravity, while the temperature had just reached 27°. This small fall put into perspective the difficult situation of Alex Rins, who has come back well in the Championship, but who must not fall on his collarbone.
With 10 minutes to go, Johann Zarco accelerated and moved to 0.04 behind leader Lüthi. Takaaki Nakagami entered the good group in fifth position, between Corsi and Marquez. Then the Japanese moved into the top three, with Lüthi and Zarco. Takaaki in an impressive “Banzai” took the lead in 1'38.322, but Lüthi at 0.02 and Zarco at 0.06 gave him a choice response. Lorenzo Baldassarri, late climbed from fifteenth to fourth place, stood at 0.1. Nakagami gave the final blow under the checkered flag in 1'38.307, a few hundredths ahead of Lüthi and Zarco. Baldassarri fourth preceded Folger, Corsi, Lowes and Rins.
FP1 results:
1- Takaaki Nakagami – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – KALEX Moto2 – 1’38.307
2- Thomas Luthi – Garage Plus Interwetten – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.044
3- Johann Zarco – Ajo Motorsport – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.082
4- Lorenzo Baldassarri – Forward Team – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.172
5- Jonas Folger – Dynavolt Intact GP – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.229
6- Simone Corsi – Speed Up Racing – Speed Up SF16 – + 0.327
7- Sam Lowes – Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.379
8- Alex Rins – Paginas Amarillas HP 40 – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.414
9- Marcel Schrotter – AGR Team – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.512
10- Sandro Cortese – Dynavolt Intact GP – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.518
11- Alex Marquez – Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.677
12- Julian Simon – QMMF Racing Team – Speed Up SF16 – + 0.696
13- Franco Morbidelli – Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.738
14- Hafizh Syahrin – Petronas Raceline Malaysia – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.742
15- Mattia Pasini – Italtrans Racing Team – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.826
16- Danny Kent – Leopard Racing – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.884
17- Axel Pons – AGR Team – KALEX Moto2 – + 0.983
18- Xavier Simeon – QMMF Racing Team – Speed Up SF16 – + 1.030
19- Miguel Oliveira – Leopard Racing – KALEX Moto2 – + 1.101
20- Edgar Pons – Paginas Amarillas HP 40 – KALEX Moto2 – + 1.266
21- Remy Gardner – Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 – KALEX Moto2 – + 1.327
22- Luca Marini – Forward Team – KALEX Moto2 – + 1.428
23- Jesko Raffin – Sports Millions EMWE SAG – KALEX Moto2 – + 1.473
24- Xavi Virgo – Tech 3 Racing – Tech 3 Mistral 610 – + 1.712
25- Isaac Vinales – Tech 3 Racing – Tech 3 Mistral 610 – + 1.765
26- Iker Lecuona – carXpert Interwetten – KALEX Moto2 – + 1.850
27- Ratthapark Wilairot – IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia – KALEX Moto2 – + 1.955
28- Federico Fuligni – Team Ciatti – KALEX Moto2 – + 2.356
29- Robin Mulhauser – carXpert Interwetten – KALEX Moto2 – + 2.398
Track record : 1'36.754 by Johann Zarco (Kalex) in 2015
Race record : 1'37.422 by Jonas Folger (Kalex) in 2015
Championship:
1 Johann ZARCO-Kalex 181 points
2 Alex RINS-Kalex 171
3 Sam LOWES-Kalex 137
4 Thomas LUTHI-Kalex 131
5 Jonas FOLGER-Kalex 119
6 Franco MORBIDELLI-Kalex 114
7 Takaaki NAKAGAMI-Kalex 108
8 Hafizh SYAHRIN-Kalex 92
9 Dominique AEGERTER-Kalex 71
10 Simone CORSI-Speed Up 67
