Celestino Vietti was the fastest at the Sachsenring with a lap time of 1:22.329. The home team, Liqui Moly, had more to celebrate in this session with both their riders, Senna Aguis and Manuel González, coming second and third in the Moto2 Practice session of the German GP.
Some big names missed out on the Q2 advancement, meaning they will have to do what they can tomorrow in Q1. Read on for the moments that made the Moto2 Practice session.
Competitive from the Start
In the earlier Free Practice 1 session, we saw riders get their heads down and keep the session clean. The afternoon played out the same as everyone understood the gravity of what they were competing for: an automatic advancement into Q2. Ten minutes into the forty-minute session, the Moto2 championship leader was still biding his time.
Yellow Flags Out in Sector 4
Adrián Huertas came off his bike in the final turns, trying to restart it to return to the pit lane. Due to the location of the crash, yellow flags were out for a significantly more extended period than is normal here at the Sachsenring. With more than half the time remaining on the clock, no rider was hindered by the conditions.
Bees Cause Öncü Discomfort
Deniz Öncü came under attack from a different type of competitor during the session. Somehow, a bee had made its way into the Turkish rider’s helmet and forced him to return to the garage to remove it. When we say that anything can happen in this sport, the threat of a bee sting is not the norm.
Halfway Point and Salač Down
Filip Salač has been fortunate to avoid serious injury following the incidents in the previous race. Just as we reached twenty moments to go, Salač fell victim to Turn 1 in a soft crash, but unharmed. At this stage, he topped the timesheet. The rest of the grid completed their fast laps and made their way back to the pit lane to regroup before the last minutes of the session.
Final Flying Last Laps
Surprisingly, some of the usual names we see doing well in Practice, such as Arón Canet, Jake Dixon, and Diogo Moreira, had fallen far behind. The low-key method paid off enough to get Canet back up to advance, but the others found themselves out of the top fourteen. As the checkered flag loomed, Moreira was losing more time and almost looked to come back into the pit.
Q2 Advancers
While Moreira did not have the pace, he always seems to find it in the Q1 session. However, with the threat of rain imminent, this may have been the wrong move by the Brazilian. We’ll see how the Saturday Moto2 script plays out.