2014 Motegi Moto2 Friday Practice Results
Following a two-week break, the Moto2 Championship continues this weekend with the Grand Prix of Japan at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit.
Practice began Friday for round 15 of 18, and when the first- and second-free practice sessions wrapped up, the current points leader – Esteve Rabat – was fastest.
The Marc VDS Racing pilot, who leads his teammate Mika Kallio by 33 points, dominated the afternoon (FP2) session. His fastest time was a 1:50.990 around the technical Motegi circuit.
Rabat finished 0.323 of a second ahead of AirAsia Caterham’s Johann Zarco and 0.583 of a second ahead of Paginas Amarillas HP’s Maverick Vinales.
Next was Technomag carXpert’s Dominique Aegerter and Italtrans Racing Team’s Julian Simon, who trailed by 0.603 and 0.890 of a second, respectively. The final two riders to post within a second of Rabat were Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Sitag) and Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing Team), who finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Rounding out the top 10 were Axel Pons (AGR Team), Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Takaaki Nakagami (IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia).
Wildcard Chalermpol Polamai (Singha Eneos Yamaha Tech 3) suffered a crash early in the session, as did Simon. Yuki Takahashi (Moriwaki Racing) fell with just ten minutes remaining, while Ratthapark Wilairot (AirAsia Caterham) crashed on his last lap. All the riders were unhurt.
The Moto2 grid returns to Motegi Saturday for two additional free practices ahead of qualifying.
