Sepang Moto2 FP1: Lüthi before the rain

It is rare to arrive at a new circuit and we can consider that the Sepang International Circuit is a semi-new one since the references there are obsolete, following the major overhaul which it underwent this year.

However, knowing that in Superbike Tom Sykes rode a 2'02.246 in 2016 compared to 2'03.240 in 2015, i.e. a differential of one second, to within 6 thousandths, our usual table is not completely useless.

Sepang Moto 2	2015	2016
FP1	2'07.720 Jonas Folger
FP2	2'07.453 Tom Lüthi
FP3	2'06.881 Johann Zarco
Qualification	2'06.383 Tom Lüthi
Warm Up	2'07.081 Tom Lüthi
Course	Zarco, Lüthi, Folger
All time lap record	2'06.383 Tom Lüthi

 

An element that has not moved is the weather, always constant at this time of year: temperature between 25 and 33°, dry in the morning, showers in the afternoon. And if the large patches of humidity present during the Moto1 FP3 have disappeared, so has the sun which reigned for the MotoGP session, and it is therefore a very overcast sky which now welcomes Moto2 riders.

Alexander Nocco replaces injured Miguel Oliviera at Leopard while Ramdan Rosli is a wild card for the Petronas AHM Malaysia team

The session begins with a clash between Julian Simon and Edgard Pons at turn #14, followed a lap later by a double fall Sam Lowes / Johann Zarco in the same place, which results in a red flag. There is talk of raindrops but no injury for the pilots.

The session restarts after a few minutes…. just at the moment a heavy downpour fell on the circuit, which caused the fall of Simone Corsi.

So, even if there are still 30 minutes left, given the circuit's water retention problems, Tom Luthi sees his time achieved in just 4 laps most probably definitively confirmed. It is then followed by Schrotter, Marquez, Axel Pons, Syahrin, Pasini, Baldassarri, Siméon, Folger et Virgin.

Most of the drivers returned to the track 15 minutes from the end of the session to prepare for a possible race in the wet, but the asphalt remained wet and no time set in the dry was obviously improved.

Ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net:

1. Thomas luthi SWI Garage Plus Interwetten (Kalex) 2m 10.121s
2. Marcel schrotter GER AGR Team (Kalex) 2m 10.565s
3. Alex Marquez SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (Kalex) 2m 11.103s
4. Axel Pons SPA AGR Team (Kalex) 2m 11.846s
5. Hafiz Syahrin MAL Petronas Raceline Malaysia (Kalex) 2m 12.003s
6. Mattia Pasini ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 2m 12.518s
7. Lorenzo Baldassarri ITA Forward Team (Kalex) 2m 13.873s
8. Xavier Simeon BEL QMMF Racing Team (Speed ​​Up) 2m 13.946s
9. Jonas Folger GER Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex) 2m 16.086s
10. Xavi Verge SPA Tech 3 Racing (Tech 3) 2m 16.198s
11. Remy gardner AUS Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 (Kalex) 2m 16.514s
12. Rattha Park Wilairot THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 2m 17.140s
13. alex rins SPA Paginas Amarillas HP 40 (Kalex) 2m 17.329s
14. Luca marini ITA Forward Team (Kalex) 2m 17.330s
15. Simone Courses ITA Speed ​​Up Racing (Speed ​​Up) 2m 18.180s
16. Isaac Viñales SPA Tech 3 Racing (Tech 3) 2m 18.285s
17. Sandra Cortese GER Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex) 2m 18.308s
18. Jesko Raffin SWI Sports-Millions-EMWE-SAG (Kalex) 2m 18.332s
19. Danny Kent GBR Leopard Racing (Kalex) 2m 18.436s
20. Takaaki Nakagami JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 2m 19.019s
Iker Lecuona SPA CarXpert Interwetten (Kalex) 2m 19.936s
Alexander Nocco ITA Leopard Racing (Kalex) 2m 23.242s
Johann zarco FRA Ajo Motorsport (Kalex) 2m 24.586s
Edgar Pons SPA Paginas Amarillas HP 40 (Kalex) 2m 25.246s
Franco Morbidelli ITA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (Kalex) 2m 25.851s
Sam Lowes GBR Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 2m 28.207s
Ramdan Rosli MAL Petronas AHM Malaysia (Kalex) 2m 28.535s
Robin Mulhauser SWI CarXpert Interwetten (Kalex) 2m 30.044s
Julian Simon SPA QMMF Racing Team (Speed ​​Up) m 0.000s