Jake Dixon led Moto2 World Championship practice Friday afternoon at Mobility Resort Motegi, in Japan. Riding his ELF Marc VDS Racing Boscoscuro on Pirelli control tires, the Briton lapped the 2.98-mile (4.80 km) road course in 1:48.679, topping the field of 28 riders and breaking the All-Time Lap Record of 1:49.067 he set this morning in FP1.
Home hero, Ayumu Sasaki was second-best with a time of 1:48.828 on his RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP Kalex.
Spaniard Izan Guevara did a third-fastest 1:48.915 on his Blu Cru Pramac Yamaha Boscoscuro.
American Joe Roberts finished Friday afternoon’s practice session 7th with a best time of 1:49.000 on his OnlyFans American Racing Team Kalex.
Classification practice moto2
More from a press release issued by Dorna:
Dixon denies home hero Sasaki with late lap on Friday. The Japanese rider leads the way until late on, Canet and Baltus head for Q1.
Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) just edged out home hero Ayumu Sasaki (RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP) on Friday in Japan, taking to the top in Moto2™ Practice by a tenth and a half late on after the #71 set the pace for much of the session. Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2) completes the top three – pushing Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) down to P4.
Still, Gonzalez remains in prime position. Third in the Championship, Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) is much further down the order, suffering a crash in the session and now heading for Q1, as is his teammate Barry Baltus, who holds P4 in the Championship.
Second in the standings, Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team), took P8 on Friday in a solid start to the weekend. He’s equal on points with Canet but has one more win so technically leads the Spaniard.
Between Gonzalez and Moreira, Tony Arbolino (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2), Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team) and Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing) slot into fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. Zonta den van Goorbergh (RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP) is P9, with rookie Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) completing the top ten – just pipping Misano winner Celestino Vietti (Beta Tools SpeedRS Team).
Find full Moto2 Friday results from Motegi here and tune in on Saturday to see if Canet and Baltus can move forward in qualifying!