Moto2 got back on track with some incredibly tight timesheets on Wednesday, with Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) setting a 1:42.436 in the afternoon to lead Tom Lüthi (Liqui Moly Intact GP) by just 0.076 by the end of play.
Marco Bezzecchi (Sky Racing Team VR46) – despite only being ruled fit to ride on Tuesday after suffering a broken ankle while training – was P3 overall and not much further back either.
Under the soaring Andalusian sun, the intermediate class riders were getting to grips with their Triumph machines for the first time since Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo) took that emotional victory in Qatar, but Moto2 remains competitive as ever, with hardly anything separating the top 10.
Luca Marini made it two Sky Racing Team VR46 bikes in the top four in P4, with former Jerez winner Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) completing a top five split by 0.251 as he got up to speed quickly on his return from injury.
Italtrans Racing Team’s Enea Bastianini – a podium finisher in Qatar – finished P6 on the combined times, with Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP), Nagashima and Jorge Navarro (HDR Heidrun Speed Up) up next, sitting three tenths off the pace.
Xavi Vierge rounded out the top 10 on his Petronas Sprinta Racing machine, but the close battle went on as 19 riders finished the two sessions within a second of each other.
Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP 40) – the man who won at Jerez for the last two years – finished P16. Can he make it further up the timesheets on Friday? Moto2 FP1 starts at 10:55.
Moto2 combined standings
- Jorge Martin – Red Bull KTM Ajo – Kalex 1:42.346
- Tom Lüthi – Liqui Moly Intact GP – Kalex +0.076
- Marco Bezzecchi – Sky Racing Team VR46 – Kalex +0.116
