Moto2 Test Jerez FP1: Advantage for Tom Lüthi

The riders in the Moto2 category took to the track with enthusiasm, the times achieved previously this morning in Moto3 being promising, with John mcphee who obtained the best time in 1'46.263, compared to his own lap record of 1'46.365 from last year. The track then confirmed its qualities with the MotoGP times, including the lap record established in 1'38.051 by Marc Márquez last year was to be compared to the 1'37.941 of the same Marc Márquez This morning.

We could therefore expect a good performance in Moto2, although the heat at midday did not facilitate the improvement of the lap record established in 2019 in 1'41.539 by Lorenzo Baldassarri on Kalex. Both Moto3 and MotoGP times this morning were faster than the official lap records set in the race, so the Moto2 lap record was the logical objective.

During the first rounds of this 40-minute long session, Enea Bastianini (Kalex Italtrans Racing Team) set the first reference time in 1'44.959. Then Tom Luthi (Kalex Liqui Moly Intact GP) took over in 1'43.271.

The Swiss improved to 1'43.145, retaining first position, but only 0.001 ahead of Remy Gardner (Kalex Onexox TKKR SAG Team) and 0.01 on his own teammate Marcel Schrötter.

Sam Lowes then progressed quite clearly on his Kalex from the EG 0,0 Marc VDS team in 1'42.597. We were then more than a second away from the lap record, and noon marked the middle of the session. Kalex occupied the first twelve places at that time. Lowes and teammate Augusto Fernández had been racing R6s at Misano and Barcelona at the same time as the Superbikes, which seemed to be yielding positive results.

At midday, only seven drivers out of the thirty present were driving on the track, the others being stopped in the pits. Lorenzo Dalla Porta 28th and Nicholas Bulega 29th, 3 seconds behind, looked to be in trouble, despite having completed nine laps (like almost all the others) for the reigning Moto3 World Champion.

Kashma Daniel, in last position, Gardner's teammate in the Onexox TKKR SAG Team, fell in Turn 5, apparently not seriously.

26 drivers (out of 30) returned to the track in the final minutes to try to beat Sam Lowes' 1'42.597. Tom Luthi achieved this magnificently in 1'42.422. He was then ahead of the Briton by 0.175, Enea Bastianini of 0.215 and George Martin of 0.277.

Luca marini propelled himself into second position in 1'42.502, only 0.08 behind Lüthi. These two men ultimately preceded Sam Lowes, Enea Bastianini and the leader of the World Championship Tetsuta nagashima.

Results of the first test session:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com

Benchmark performance:

Test record: 1'41.182 by Jorge Navarro (MB Conveyors Speed ​​Up) in 2019

Lap record: 1'41.539 by Lorenzo Baldassarri (Kalex Flexbox HP 40) in 2019

Maximum speed: 259,3 km/h by Federico Fuligni (Kalex Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) in 2018

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

1 Tetsuta Nagashima – Red Bull KTM Ajo – Kalex – 25 points

2 Lorenzo Baldassarri – Flexbox HP 40 – Kalex – 20

3 Enea Bastianini – Italtrans Racing Team – Kalex – 16

4 Joe Roberts – Tennor American Racing – Kalex – 13

5 Remy Gardner – Onexox TKKR SAG Team – Kalex – 11

For collectors, the official Grand Prix poster:

Photos © Motogp.com / Dorna, teams and manufacturers, Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto