2014 Qatar Moto2 Thursday FP Results
Japan’s Takaaki Nakagami, who has led throughout the Moto2 preseason, put in a last-minute effort Thursday to take the top Free Practice time at Qatar’s Losail International Circuit.
During the second and final free practice on Thursday, the IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia pilot posted a 2:00.52 around the 3.34-mile desert circuit containing 16 corners. He finished 0.052 ahead of Esteve Rabat (Marc VDS Racing Team), and 0.15 of a second ahead of 2012 Moto3 World Champion Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP)
The 2013 Moto3 title winner Maverick Viñales (Pons HP 40) was fourth and the ever consistent Dominique Aegerter (Technomag carXpert) completed the top five.
Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2), Alex De Angelis (Tasca Racing Moto2), Johann Zarco (AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing), Jonas Folger (AGR Team) and FP1 leader Mika Kallio Marc (VDS Racing Team) were all present in the top 10.
Sam Lowes (Speed Up) and his fellow rookie Tetsuta Nagashima (Teluru Team JiR Webike) both walked away from crashes during the session, as they learned the way with their respective new machines.
As for the American Josh Herrin, the Caterham Moto Racing Team pilot had a best time of 2:02.785, finishing 29th.
The 2014 Moto2 grid will return to the Qatar circuit Friday for the third Free Practice.
