Frenchman Zarco Quickest Friday at Austin Moto2 Practice at COTA

Frenchman Zarco Quickest Friday at Austin Moto2 Practice at COTA
Caterham's Johann Zarco at COTA
Frenchman Zarco Quickest Friday at Austin Moto2 Practice at COTA
Caterham’s Johann Zarco at COTA

2014 Circuit of the Americas Friday Free Practice Results

AirAsia Caterham Moto Racing’s Johann Zarco – the American Josh Herrin’s teammate – took the fastest lap time Friday at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas. He lead both Free Practice 1 and 2, but his quickest time arrived in FP2.

The Frenchman posted a 2:10.839 around the 3.426-mile circuit containing 20 corners, leading Techomag carport’s Dominique Aegerter by 0.25 of a second. Aegerter had crashed with Ricky Cardus early in FP2 but both escaped major injury.

Finishing third fastest was the rider who won the opening Moto2 round at Qatar, Marc VDS Racing Team’s Tito Rabat. Rabat was 0.3 of a second off Zarco in third and an intriguing day of qualifying lies ahead on Saturday.

Also in the hunt for front row slots should be the likes of impressive rookie and Moto3 World Champion Maverick Viñales (Pons HP 40), Xavier Simeon (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) and Mika Kallio Marc (Marc VDS Racing Team) who were all in the top six, despite a light crash for Simeon.

Luis Salom (Pons HP 40), Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia), the aforementioned Cardus (Tech 3) and Simone Corsi (NGM Forward Racing) were all in the top ten and within 0.9 of a second of Zarco.

Azlan Shah (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia) also walked away from a spill, while Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) had a heavy crash at Turn 18 at the end of the session.

As for the American Herrin, he struggled aboard the Suter machine, and finished 30th, 3.954 off the top pace.

The riders will return to Circuit of the Americas Saturday for two additional free practices and qualifying.

2014 Circuit of the Americas Moto2 Free Practice 2 Results:

1 5 Johann ZARCO FRA AirAsia Caterham Caterham Suter 267.8 2’10.839
2 77 Dominique AEGERTER SWI Technomag carXpert Suter 275.7 2’11.086 0.247 / 0.247
3 53 Esteve RABAT SPA Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex 269.9 2’11.147 0.308 / 0.061
4 40 Maverick VIÑALES SPA Pons HP 40 Kalex 267.5 2’11.156 0.317 / 0.009
5 19 Xavier SIMEON BEL Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Suter 267.8 2’11.160 0.321 / 0.004
6 36 Mika KALLIO FIN Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex 269.7 2’11.329 0.490 / 0.169
7 39 Luis SALOM SPA Pons HP 40 Kalex 272.5 2’11.444 0.605 / 0.115
8 30 Takaaki NAKAGAMI JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia Kalex 269.3 2’11.502 0.663 / 0.058
9 88 Ricard CARDUS SPA Tech 3 Tech 3 270.3 2’11.610 0.771 / 0.108
10 3 Simone CORSI ITA NGM Forward Racing Forward KLX 266.9 2’11.694 0.855 / 0.084
11 12 Thomas LUTHI SWI Interwetten Paddock Moto2 Suter 276.0 2’11.704 0.865 / 0.010
12 11 Sandro CORTESE GER Dynavolt Intact GP Kalex 271.4 2’11.799 0.960 / 0.095
13 60 Julian SIMON SPA Italtrans Racing Team Kalex 272.5 2’11.904 1.065 / 0.105
14 81 Jordi TORRES SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 272.4 2’11.979 1.140 / 0.075
15 54 Mattia PASINI ITA NGM Forward Racing Forward KLX 268.0 2’12.216 1.377 / 0.237
16 23 Marcel SCHROTTER GER Tech 3 Tech 3 268.5 2’12.277 1.438 / 0.061
17 15 Alex DE ANGELIS RSM Tasca Racing Moto2 Suter 269.8 2’12.408 1.569 / 0.131
18 95 Anthony WEST AUS QMMF Racing Team Speed Up 269.7 2’12.431 1.592 / 0.023
19 22 Sam LOWES GBR Speed Up Speed Up 267.9 2’12.486 1.647 / 0.055
20 8 Gino REA GBR AGT REA Racing Suter 268.5 2’12.533 1.694 / 0.047
21 94 Jonas FOLGER GER AGR Team Kalex 266.7 2’12.858 2.019 / 0.325
22 55 Hafizh SYAHRIN MAL Petronas Raceline Malaysia Kalex 271.9 2’12.917 2.078 / 0.059
23 18 Nicolas TEROL SPA Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 Suter 268.8 2’12.956 2.117 / 0.039
24 96 Louis ROSSI FRA SAG Team Kalex 266.9 2’13.136 2.297 / 0.180
25 4 Randy KRUMMENACHER SWI IodaRacing Project Suter 265.0 2’13.159 2.320 / 0.023
26 7 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI ITA Gresini Moto2 Suter 266.8 2’13.427 2.588 / 0.268
27 49 Axel PONS SPA AGR Team Kalex 270.0 2’13.507 2.668 / 0.080
28 21 Franco MORBIDELLI ITA Italtrans Racing Team Kalex 264.3 2’13.542 2.703 / 0.035
29 97 Roman RAMOS SPA QMMF Racing Team Speed Up 268.7 2’14.360 3.521 / 0.818
30 2 Josh HERRIN USA AirAsia Caterham Caterham Suter 268.6 2’14.793 3.954 / 0.433
31 45 Tetsuta NAGASHIMA JPN Teluru Team JiR Webike TSR 262.5 2’15.141 4.302 / 0.348
32 10 Thitipong WAROKORN THA APH PTT The Pizza SAG Kalex 266.6 2’15.150 4.311 / 0.009
33 25 Azlan SHAH MAL IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia Kalex 269.0 2’15.175 4.336 / 0.025
34 70 Robin MULHAUSER SWI Technomag carXpert Suter 267.7 2’16.000 5.161 / 0.825

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