FIM Moto2 World Championship
Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina
April 6, 2018
Free Practice Two Results (all using Honda engines and Dunlop tires):
1. Alex Marquez, Spain (Kalex), 1:44.802
2. Miguel Oliveira, Portugal (KTM), 1:44.805
3. Xavi Vierge, Spain (Kalex), 1:45.012
4. Remy Gardner, Australia (Tech 3), 1:45.012
5. Sam Lowes, UK (KTM), 1:45.053
6. Brad Binder, South Africa (KTM), 1:45.055
7. Mattia Pasini, Italy (Kalex), 1:45.171
8. Isaac Vinales, Spain (Kalex), 1:45.385
9. Joan Mir, Spain (Kalex), 1:45.445
10. Dominique Aegerter, Switzerland (KTM), 1:45.466
11. Luca Marini, Italy (Kalex), 1:45.504
12. Stefano Manzi, Italy (Suter), 1:45.524
13. Iker Lecuona, Spain (KTM), 1:45.548
14. Jorge Navarro, Spain (Kalex), 1:45.676
15. Hector Barbera, Spain (Kalex), 1:45.735
16. Simone Corsi, Italy (Kalex), 1:45.964
17. Tetsuta Nagashima, Japan (Kalex), 1:46.107
18. Lorenzo Baldassari, Italy (Kalex), 1:46.127
19. Marcel Schrotter, Germany (Kalex), 1:46.220
20. Bo Bendsneyder, Netherlands (Tech 3), 1:46.269
21. Francesco Bagnaia, Italy (Kalex), 1:46.382
22. Steven Odendaal, South Africa (NTS), 1:46.385
23. Fabio Quartararo, France (Speed Up), 1:46.518
24. Andrea Locatelli, Italy (Kalex), 1:46.570
25. Romano Fenati, Italy (Kalex), 1:46.577
26. Danny Kent, UK (Speed Up), 1:46.630
27. Joe Roberts, USA (NTS), 1:47.097
28. Eric Granado, Brazil (Suter), 1:47.413
29. Khairul Idham Pawi, Malaysia (Kalex), 1:47.884
30. Zulfahmi Khairuddin, Malaysia (Kalex), 1:47.902
31. Federico Fuligni, Italy (Kalex), 1:49.126
32. Jules Danilo, France (Kalex), 1:49.333
More, from a press release issued by Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS:
Márquez and Mir battle tricky conditions in Argentina
Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS riders Álex Márquez and Joan Mir battled low grip conditions on the opening day of practice for the Grand Prix of Argentina.
The morning FP1 session was conducted on a dry but dusty track and then rain showers made conditions tricky for the later FP2 session. Lap times today were upwards of 1.5s slower than the circuit record.
Márquez finished fifth overall but still has work to do to reach his personal best lap time at the Termas de Rio Hondo circuit, which has been partially re-surfaced.
Joan Mir finished the day 11th fastest as he prepares for his first Moto2 race at this track but the young Spaniard was just 0.5s off the front pace in a tightly bunched group of riders.
Álex Márquez: 5th – 1.44.802
“Overall I am happy with the opening day. The grip level was low in FP1 and I did not use the soft tyre like many others and also our set-up was not perfect for the conditions. In FP2 I went faster on the harder tyre despite the much stronger wind and track conditions. Tomorrow we will try the soft tyre and hope to make another step for qualifying.”
Joan Mir: 11th – 1’45.022
“In FP2 we tried a different set-up but it was not the right direction so my time was faster from FP1 but now we have a good starting point for tomorrow. I am hoping to improve turning and also the grip which is maybe a little worse now on the section with the new surface, but it is the same for everyone.”
Naoya Kaneko: Álex Márquez Crew Chief
“The conditions were tricky today in the low grip conditions so we did a comparison with last year’s data to find a good direction for the weekend. We are trying to give Álex more stability on corner entry, his best lap time is 0.7s down on his fastest from last year. By the race on Sunday I think lap times will be faster than last year because the track has less bumps with the new surface and it is always in a dirty condition for Friday.”