Moto2 begins its second round of the season remaining in Qatar. This time, it is a Doha Grand Prix offered by the Losail track which was so successful last week for Sam Lowes. The latter has indeed won and with this achievement, he has the satisfaction of embellishing the statistics of his Nation. Never has a Briton triumphed in the inaugural round since Barry Sheene's performance in 1979 at the Venezuelan Grand Prix...
Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing) put an end to this curse last weekend and in style at that. The Lincoln native was almost never worried during this race. A domination that we actually saw coming in testing, especially with the departures ofEnea Bastianini (Esponsorama Racing) and Luca Marini (Sky VR46 Esponsorama) towards the MotoGP.
That being said, we expected a little more resistance from the one who finished in his wake in 2020, i.e. Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46). Unfortunately the Italian was deprived of a podium at the end by 13 thousandths against Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), happy to honor the memory of its late boss Fausto Gresini.
On the challenger side, it's the Red Bull KTM Ajo team that we have to look at. Remy gardner proved that he has adapted perfectly to his new team, working his way up to second place. A position long occupied by his teammate Raúl Fernández who was not unworthy, even if he was ultimately pushed back to fifth place. Let's also point out that he started second: not bad for a debut...
Overall, the hierarchy was otherwise respected, with Joe Roberts (Italtrans Racing Team), Jake dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Jorge Navarro (MB Conveyors Speed Up) in ambush, offered a look already seen in 2020. Nice surprise on the other hand Will Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team), whether in qualifying or in the race with the Top 10… But also rookies Cameron Beaubier (American Racing) and Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46), who finished the event ahead Aron Canet (India Aspar Team). The latter will for his part be keen to bounce back.
What does this FP1 have in store for us? Doha Grand Prix. Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.
|
Qatar 1 Moto2 |
2021 GP1 |
2021 GP2 |
| FP1 |
2'00.305 Marco Bezzecchi |
1'59.931 Fabio Di Giannantonio |
| FP2 |
1'58.959 Sam Lowes |
|
| FP3 |
2'00.335 Arón Canet |
|
| Q1 |
1'59.354 Fabio Di Giannantonio |
|
| Q2 |
1'58.726 Sam Lowes |
|
| Warm Up |
2'00.332 Joe Roberts |
|
| Course |
Lowes, Gardner, Di Giannantonio |
|
| All time lap record |
1'58.136 Joe Roberts 2020 |
Under scorching temperatures the Moto2 riders set off for their first free practice session of the day on Friday. An exercise which was dominated by Fabio Di Giannantonio who signed a time of 1'59.931 which puts him in front Marco Bezzecchi. Joe Roberts boils Sam Lowes, of the leading trio. The rookie Raul Fernandez closes the top 5 and it's much better than his teammate Remy gardner 23e.
Aron Canet leads the rest of the peloton ahead of the rookie Ogura. Virgin, Bulega et Schrötter close the top 10. Dalla Porta and 13th, Arenas and 15th, these are the two previous Moto3 World Champions. Dixon is only 19th.
💨 @FabioDiggia21 flying in FP1!
The Italian tops the timesheets from @ Marco12_B and @Joerobertsracer! 👏# Moto2 | #DohaGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/uJxOycL4qz
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) April 2, 2021
Doha Moto1 Grand Prix FP2 standings:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com
