Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Márquez put in a terrific performance in the second Moto2 free practice at the AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan in Motegi to set the fastest time of the Friday ahead of Bradley Smith and Scott Redding.
Marquez left it until the chequered flag came out to post a new track record with a 1.51’834, which put Tech 3 Racing’s Smith back to second, after the Brit had broken the record earlier in the session.
Smith spent much of practice on the rear wheel of Tuenti Movil HP 40’s Pol Espargaró, benefiting from the slipstream down the straights – with top speed an area known to be a problem on the Brit’s Mistral 610 machine.
Hit was however a day of two halves, after crashing heavily in the morning session and sitting it out with concussion. Marc VDS Racing Team’s Scott Redding consolidated his earlier form from the morning by once again putting in a good showing to complete the top three.
Espargaró’s teammate Esteve Rabat, who had led the morning practice, did not improve on his time and finished fourth overall in front of Espargaró, who at times looked frustrated with Smith. He could not place his Kalex higher than fifth, yet managed to keep Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi at bay in sixth, with the Swiss rider improving drastically from the morning, where he suffered a low-side.
Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2’s Nico Terol had a good day at the Japanese track and ended the sessions closely behind in seventh. Italtrans Racing Team’s Takaaki Nakagami, who had a crash in the morning, did well to recover and place his bike in eighth overall, with Blusens Avintia’s Julián Simón and Redding’s teammate Mika Kallio completing the top ten.
Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone looked off-colour almost all day, and crashed early in the second practice, managing to head back out for the finale few minutes, while Came IodaRacing Project’s Simone Corsi suffered a similar situation shortly after. Espargaró’s teammate Axel Pons also fell towards the end of the afternoon session.
2012 Motegi Moto2 Free Practice 2 Results:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time | Gap 1st/Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Team Catalunya Caixa Repsol | Suter | 262.3 | 1’51.834 | |
| 2. | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 256.3 | 1’52.021 | 0.187 / 0.187 |
| 3. | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | Marc VDS Racing Team | Kalex | 258.1 | 1’52.160 | 0.326 / 0.139 |
| 4. | 40 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | Tuenti Movil HP 40 | Kalex | 264.3 | 1’52.186 | 0.352 / 0.026 |
| 5. | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SWI | Interwetten-Paddock | Suter | 262.0 | 1’52.205 | 0.371 / 0.019 |
| 6. | 80 | Esteve RABAT | SPA | Tuenti Movil HP 40 | Kalex | 263.0 | 1’52.247 | 0.413 / 0.042 |
| 7. | 18 | Nicolas TEROL | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | Suter | 262.7 | 1’52.294 | 0.460 / 0.047 |
| 8. | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 260.7 | 1’52.344 | 0.510 / 0.050 |
| 9. | 60 | Julian SIMON | SPA | Blusens Avintia | Suter | 259.4 | 1’52.434 | 0.600 / 0.090 |
| 10. | 36 | Mika KALLIO | FIN | Marc VDS Racing Team | Kalex | 261.9 | 1’52.568 | 0.734 / 0.134 |
| 11. | 5 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | JIR Moto2 | Motobi | 261.8 | 1’52.590 | 0.756 / 0.022 |
| 12. | 3 | Simone CORSI | ITA | Came IodaRacing Project | FTR | 258.5 | 1’52.642 | 0.808 / 0.052 |
| 13. | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | Technomag-CIP | Suter | 259.9 | 1’52.668 | 0.834 / 0.026 |
| 14. | 72 | Yuki TAKAHASHI | JPN | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR | 259.1 | 1’52.721 | 0.887 / 0.053 |
| 15. | 81 | Jordi TORRES | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | Suter | 259.2 | 1’52.734 | 0.900 / 0.013 |
| 16. | 95 | Anthony WEST | AUS | QMMF Racing Team | Speed Up | 259.9 | 1’52.831 | 0.997 / 0.097 |
| 17. | 24 | Toni ELIAS | SPA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 261.2 | 1’52.963 | 1.129 / 0.132 |
| 18. | 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | FRA | Kiefer Racing | Kalex | 258.1 | 1’52.986 | 1.152 / 0.023 |
| 19. | 49 | Axel PONS | SPA | Tuenti Movil HP 40 | Kalex | 259.8 | 1’53.149 | 1.315 / 0.163 |
| 20. | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | RSM | NGM Mobile Forward Racing | FTR | 259.0 | 1’53.168 | 1.334 / 0.019 |
| 21. | 8 | Gino REA | GBR | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Suter | 259.0 | 1’53.382 | 1.548 / 0.214 |
| 22. | 88 | Ricard CARDUS | SPA | Arguiñano Racing Team | AJR | 253.5 | 1’53.386 | 1.552 / 0.004 |
| 23. | 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Desguaces La Torre SAG | Bimota | 255.0 | 1’53.656 | 1.822 / 0.270 |
| 24. | 19 | Xavier SIMEON | BEL | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 254.3 | 1’53.716 | 1.882 / 0.060 |
| 25. | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Speed Master | Speed Up | 258.6 | 1’53.719 | 1.885 / 0.003 |
| 26. | 14 | Ratthapark WILAIROT | THA | Thai Honda PTT Gresini Moto2 | Suter | 258.6 | 1’53.731 | 1.897 / 0.012 |
| 27. | 75 | Tomoyoshi KOYAMA | JPN | Technomag-CIP | Suter | 258.4 | 1’54.139 | 2.305 / 0.408 |
| 28. | 22 | Alessandro ANDREOZZI | ITA | S/Master Speed Up | Speed Up | 256.3 | 1’54.534 | 2.700 / 0.395 |
| 29. | 31 | Kohta NOZANE | JPN | SAG Team | FTR | 256.5 | 1’54.573 | 2.739 / 0.039 |
| 30. | 82 | Elena ROSELL | SPA | QMMF Racing Team | Speed Up | 256.0 | 1’55.251 | 3.417 / 0.678 |
| 31. | 57 | Eric GRANADO | BRA | JIR Moto2 | Motobi | 252.6 | 1’55.305 | 3.471 / 0.054 |
| 32. | 20 | Jesko RAFFIN | SWI | GP Team Switzerland | Kalex | 258.9 | 1’56.109 | 4.275 / 0.804 |
