Friday, March 18, 2011

Takahashi tops Moto2 FP2 timesheet


The final session of the day took place under the spotlights in Qatar and it was Japanese rider Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) was set the fastest time of the second Moto2 session.

Takahashi grabbed the quickest time of the session in the dying moments of FP2, beating Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) by just 0.053 of a second. Redding looked set to claim top spot in the session, however a fall on his last lap cost him the chance of attempting to improve his time.
Takahashi’s lap of 2’01.695 was faster than the best time of FP1 set by Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing). Bradl was still consistently quick though, recording the third fastest time of FP2.
Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) and Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) swapped positions from FP1 and this time were fourth and fifth respectively. Second quickest man from FP1 was newcomer Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol), who this time was sixth place.
Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2), a rookie in Moto2, again set the seventh fastest lap of the session, showing a good start to his 2011 campaign. He was ahead of more experienced riders, Aleix Espargaró (Pons Racing), Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) and Claudio Corti (Italtrans Racing) who were eighth, ninth and tenth.
Pol Espargaró slid off into the gravel early on and had to return to the pits without his bike, missing a large portion of the session. His brother Aleix also had a minor off late on.
Bradley Smith (Tech 3) performed better in FP2 and was 16th quickest, whilst Kev Coghlan (Team Aeroport de Castelló) was 31st.

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