Moto2 Malaysia FP: Jake Dixon comfortable in mixed conditions

Moto2 heads to the Sepang circuit for the penultimate round of its 2024 season. The title is now sealed, as Ai Ogura secured the world crown in Thailand, leaving Buriram with a lead of over fifty points over his closest pursuer, Aron Canet. The stakes are still high, however, as the latter is battling for the title of vice-world champion with some of the top riders. This Friday morning, the Moto2 riders' weekend begins in Malaysia with the FP.

 

Here is a table that summarizes the known facts :

Moto2™ Malaysia, Sepang	2023	2024
FP	2'06.183 Fermin Adleguer	2'06.255 Jake Dixon
P1	2'06.293 Ai Ogura
P2	2'05.316 Fermin Aldeguer
Q1	2'05.724 Tony Arbolino
Q2	2'05.288 Fermin Aldeguer
Course	Aldeguer, Acosta, Ramirez (See here)
All time lap record	2'04.769 Brad Binder (2019)

As usual during the last weekends of competition, the weather played tricks on the Moto2 riders this Friday morning. While the track dried throughout the first half of the session, Aron Canet set a first reference time of the FP in 2:18.663.

The track will however change greatly, since less than ten minutes later, Marcos Ramirez is already holding a pace five seconds faster, and then registers a time in the 2:13, to propel himself to the top of the classification.

Before starting the last quarter of an hour, Somkiat Chantra took another step forward, and went under the 2min 10 mark. It then seemed that the last times of this session could be similar to those that should be posted on dry ground.

Jake Dixon leads the way first, with an attempt of 2:06.826, just six tenths off the mark set by Fermin Aldeguer in FP last year.

The Briton quickly adapted to the conditions at the end of the session, and continued his momentum. He then completed his last attempt in 2:06.255. None of his opponents would do better before the checkered flag. After a series of complicated weekends, the Aspar driver once again claimed the lead in a session. He concluded the FP two tenths ahead of Ai Ogura, while Marcos Ramirez completed the top-3.

While Jorge Navarro is still making up for the absence of Joe Roberts, he takes fourth place in this session. Alberto Surra, who replaces Fermin Aldeguer, finishes the first session of the weekend in Malaysia with the 26th time.

Moto2 Malaysian Grand Prix FP Results at Sepang:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com

Moto2 Malaysia FP