Jake Dixon grabs the day’s fastest time in Mandalika on Friday ahead of Celestino Vietti and Sam Lowes – Turn 2 spells doom for many riders
In a crash-filled second Moto2 practice session at Mandalika, Jake Dixon secured the clear best time with a 1’35.897. The Kalex rider distanced Celestino Vietti in second place by 0.431 seconds. Sam Lowes took third place.
While in the first free practice session on a drying track not all riders had been on slicks, this time the conditions were completely dry. The temperature was 31 degrees in the air and 51 degrees on the asphalt.
Everyone was able to improve on the first attempt – with the exception of Filip Salac, who threw his Kalex off in turn 2 and caused the first crash of the day. The early pace was set by Ajo teammates Pedro Acosta and Augusto Fernandez. However, the competition closed the gap with each lap.
The field was now pushing the limits more and more, which resulted in more crashes. Turn 2 proved to be the focal point, because after Salac, Aron Canet and – via highsider – Acosta also went down there. Fortunately, nobody was injured.
However, the race control announced an investigation in the case of Acosta because he had crashed under yellow. So this could still result in a penalty.
At the halfway point, Lowes set the first sub-1:37 time and took the lead of the standings for the time being. Lowes’ team mate Tony Arbolino caused an unpleasant incident: Vietti ran into him because he was dawdling on the racing line. There was contact, but both remained seated.
The pace picked up again in the final phase. Dixon pushed Lowes out of first place with the first 1:35 time of the day and did not let him take the lead again. Lowes, who crashed late, lost another position to Vietti and finished third.
Acosta finished fourth, 0.632s behind, followed by Fernandez and Fermin Aldeguer, who once again finished the session as the best Boscoscuro rider. Albert Arenas finished the session in seventh place ahead of Arbolino and Canet. Rookie Manuel Gonzalez rounded out the top 10.
The remaining places for provisional entry into Q2 went to Jorge Navarro, Cameron Beaubier, Marcos Ramirez and Romano Fenati. Marcel Schrötter just missed out on the top 14 in 15th and will have to hope to improve tomorrow morning
