The gap in the championship is tiny, and the two drivers concerned are very fast on this Twin Ring Motegi circuit. The clash between Johann Zarco and Alex Rins therefore risks being influenced by an additional factor; the mental.
Who will be the strongest and who will crack first? Last year, Johann Zarco was titled here, after Tito Rabat's withdrawal. This year, the situation is much more tense, even if the stakes are not the same since the French rider, like his opponent, is guaranteed to ride in MotoGP next season.
|
Motegi Moto2 |
2015 |
2016 |
| FP1 | 1'51.556 Tom Lüthi | |
| FP2 | 1'51.158 Johann Zarco | |
| FP3 | 1'50.909 Alex Rins | |
| QP | 1'50.339 Johann Zarco | |
| WU (wet) | 2'03.645 Alex Rins | |
| All time lap record | 1'50.339 Johann Zarco | |
| Running (wet) | Zarco, Folger, Cortese | |
The conditions are always ideal when the drivers set off for 45 minutes.
Julian Simon inaugurates the session by falling without gravity at turn #1 whileAxel Pons, Tom Lüthi and Johann Zarco compete for leadership in 1'52. Xavier Simeon minor fall at turn #10, then Simone Courses at #11, while Alex Marquez lowers the reference time to 1'52.218.
Towards the end of the first run, the provisional hierarchy is led by the two drivers of the Marc VDS team, Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez (new Öhlins fork) carrying Sandro Cortese, Johann Zarco and Axel Pons who ends up falling without gravity at turn #3. Johann zarco improves and positions itself second while alex rins, as usual, is confined to 14th position.
On resumption, Tom Luthi, in 1'52.137, leads a group of 4 drivers in less than a tenth of a second, before Takaaki Nakagami breaks the 1'52 mark in 1'51.903. The Japanese driver improved further in 1'51.816, followed by Johann Zarco 2 tenths behind.
3 minutes before the checkered flag, Lorenzo Baldassarri is provisionally positioned 2nd and Sam Lowes 5th.
At the last second, Johann zarco lights the first two partials in red but loses time in T4 and finishes second while his main opponent, Alex Rins finished in 21st position.
Miguel Oliveira only completed 5 laps and withdrew from this weekend, following his broken collarbone in Aragon.
Ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net
1. Takaaki Nakagami JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex)
1m 51.816s
2. Johann zarco FRA Ajo Motorsport (Kalex) 1m 51.975s
3. Lorenzo Baldassarri ITA Forward Team (Kalex) 1m 52.068s
4. Thomas luthi SWI Garage Plus Interwetten (Kalex) 1m 52.120s
5. Sam Lowes GBR Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 52.130s
6. Franco Morbidelli ITA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (Kalex) 1m 52.164s
7. Marcel schrotter GER AGR Team (Kalex) 1m 52.201s
8. Simone Courses ITA Speed Up Racing (Speed Up) 1m 52.202s
9. Alex Marquez SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (Kalex)
1m 52.218s
10. Danny Kent GBR Leopard Racing (Kalex) 1m 52.232s
11. Sandra Cortese GER Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 52.248s
12. Axel Pons SPA AGR Team (Kalex) 1m 52.280s
13. Jonas Folger GER Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 52.283s
14. Remy gardner AUS Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 (Kalex)
1m 52.853s
15. Mattia Pasini ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 52.921s
16. Luca marini ITA Forward Team (Kalex) 1m 53.116s
17. Isaac Viñales SPA Tech 3 Racing (Tech 3) 1m 53.212s
18. Jesko Raffin SWI Sports-Millions-EMWE-SAG (Kalex) 1m 53.264s
19. Edgar Pons SPA Paginas Amarillas HP 40 (Kalex) 1m 53.390s
20. Hafiz Syahrin MAL Petronas Raceline Malaysia (Kalex)
1m 53.427s
21. alex rins SPA Paginas Amarillas HP 40 (Kalex) 1m 53.489s
22. Xavi Verge SPA Tech 3 Racing (Tech 3) 1m 53.606s
23. Robin Mulhauser SWI CarXpert Interwetten (Kalex) 1m 53.609s
24. Rattha Park Wilairot THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex)
1m 53.699s
25. Xavier Simeon BEL QMMF Racing Team (Speed Up) 1m 53.775s
26. Tetsuta nagashima JPN Ajo Motorsport Academy (Kalex)
1m 53.789s
27. Julian Simon SPA QMMF Racing Team (Speed Up) 1m 53.922s
28. Iker Lecuona SPA Technomag Racing Interwetten (Kalex)
1m 54.352s
29. Naomichi Uramoto JPN Japan-GP2 (Kalex) 1m 54.698s
30. Miguel Oliveira POR Leopard Racing (Kalex) 1m 55.398s
31. Taro Sekiguchi JPN Team Taro Plus One (TSR) 1m 55.644s
