De Diana Tamantini / Corsedimoto.com
On a record pace during his first official test, Pedro Acosta is already scary in Moto2. Here's how the last day of testing went.
The much-watched intermediate category puts its stamp on these pre-season tests. Peter Acosta, just out of the Moto3 World Championship and making his debut in Moto2, smashed the overall circuit record to close this official test. An entirely Spanish top 5 for this last day, with Celestine Vietti as the only Italian in the top zones of the ranking. Bad Monday for Marcel Schrötter, injured after a fall and in doubt for the first GP of the year, scheduled in a little over a week... Let's see all the rankings from today's sessions.
Session 1
The reference times for this track are the race record of 1'42.504 (Remy gardner, 2020) and the general record of 1'42.101 (Raul Fernandez, 2021). Speaking of those tests, let's take a look at the incredible time of 1'41.892 printed yesterday by Aron Canet, well below the absolute best lap previously seen in Portimão. But he is quickly forgotten thanks to the rookie Peter Acosta with a 1'41.552 which allowed him to finish in first place. He is followed by Aron canet, with two falls to his credit, who is not the only one to have fallen during this session: Jeremy Alcoba, Marcel Schrötter and Zonta van den Goorbergh also made mistakes. To unfortunately note the fracture of the left hand for the German from IntactGP, already flown to Barcelona for an operation and to try to return to Qatar (March 4-6).
Session 2
We pick up where we left off: Pedro Acosta does not take long to regain first place, but this time further from the record which has just been rewritten. Just a few thousandths behind, his teammate Augusto Fernández, with Aron Canet in 3rd position. The top 3, as seen above, remained stable for a long time until #37 made a series of fast laps that earned him first place, the only one to drop below 1'42 in this round. He is followed by his compatriot Fermín Aldeguer et Albert Arenas, also in the top 3, to form an all-Spanish top 5. There were also a multitude of crashes, starting with the Gresini team duo (Salac had a double fall), followed by Canet, Jeremy Alcoba, Gabriel Rodrigo, Zonta van den Goorbergh and Aldeguer.
Session 3
The third and final practice session saw very little activity on the track. We only see Jake Dixon, the Italtrans duo, Jorge Navarro and Niccolò Antonelli. Most for a very short time, while the Pons Racing driver and Joe Roberts make several laps (18 in total each) alone at the end of the official test.
The activity definitively ended 20 minutes before the checkered flag, and attention now turns to the 2022 season, which will begin in just over a week at the Losail International Circuit.
Combined ranking day 3:
