Moto2 Misano 2 FP: Alonso Lopez shines in the dry

Moto2 concludes its European tour with a second stop at the Misano circuit, which also heralds the start of a triple header that will see the discipline perform in Indonesia and Japan without interruption. A sequence of races that could be lively in the Riders' standings, as the top five are separated by 45 points. Before the start of hostilities in Italy, AI Ogura leads the way with a nine-point lead over his garage neighbour and closest pursuer, Sergio Garcia.

Here is a table that summarizes the known facts :

Moto2™ Emilia-Romagna, Misano	2024-1	2024-2
FP	1'35.775. Tony Arbolino	1'39.682 Alonso Lopez
P1	1'35.561 Aron Canet
P2	1'35.185 Aron Canet
Q1	1'35.446 Alonso Lopez
Q2	1'35.229 Tony Arbolino
Course	Ogura, Canet, Arbolino (See here)
All time lap record	1'35.229 Tony Arbolino

The first session of the weekend begins in Moto2 and the weather is already playing tricks on the riders. While the weather was rather mild in Moto3, it remains so for the FP of the intermediate class. This does not prevent the track on which the championship players are racing from remaining soaked.

Rain tyres are therefore the norm for this session, and Deniz Oncu takes the lead in the standings with a time of 1:46.247. A time that is obviously not representative of the times that should be set in normal conditions, when we know that Aron Canet completed the FP in 1:35.775 on the same track, just two weeks ago.

Many drivers did not even take to the track, preferring to save their energy for the rest of the hostilities. Deniz Oncu, Izan Guevara, Zonta van der Goorbergh and Xavier Artigas nevertheless ensured the show, completing around fifteen laps each during the first 35 minutes of track time.

The end of the session will be marked by the first attempts on stick tires. Tony Arbolino is the first to distinguish himself with a series of times that quickly threaten to go under the minute 40 mark. He is then three seconds faster than the rest of the pack.

With just under two minutes left on the clock, the Italian completed an attempt in 1:39.934. Some of the drivers who had not yet set a time then came out of their garages.

While Alonso Lopez takes the lead, the local hero, hampered in his last effort, is not able to respond and admits defeat. Manuel Gonzalez completes the top-3 of this session. It is however necessary to remember that the established ranking is not representative of the hierarchy in place.

Free practice results of the 2 Moto2024 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Misano:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com