Sasaki sits top in FP2 but Kornfeil remains fastest overall

Japanese rider went quickest in the afternoon on his return from injury but the Czech’s FP1 time is still the time to beat

Thanks to a 1:43.415 in FP1 at the PTT Thailand Grand Prix, Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) ends Friday as the fastest man in the Moto3™ class as he finished second in FP2 behind Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing). The Japanese rider going P1 in the afternoon with a 1:43.468 on his return from injury – 0.053 splitting the top two.

Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull Rider) completes the top three on the combined timesheets, just 0.085 behind Kornfeil’s time after finishing the opening session down in P17. Fourth overall was Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse), the Italian rider jumping up from P19 in the morning to go just over a tenth slower than Kornfeil, with Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) another rider to dramatically improve in the afternoon – P21 to P5 for the Italian to end the day 0.151 from the top.

Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) finishes the day just 0.013 behind ‘Diggia’ in sixth after improving his time from FP1 by eight tenths, with Malaysian rider Adam Norrodin (Petronas Sprinta Racing) enjoying a much-improved afternoon session to leap up the combined timesheets from P22 to P7.

Eighth overall was John McPhee (CIP – Green Power), however, the session ended in the Scotsman suffering a nasty looking crash at Turn 7. McPhee nearly highsided coming out of Turn 6, but after regathering heading into Turn 7, he then lost the front of his KTM machine, leaving Vicente Perez (Reale Avinita Academy 77) with nowhere to go as the Spaniard hit McPhee, the latter getting his head caught under Perez’ bike. Thankfully though, the 24-year-old gave an encouraging thumbs up as he was taken to the medical centre and was later declared fit. 

Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PruestelGP) was ninth overall after finishing the opening session just behind teammate Kornfeil in P2, the Italian was a faller at Turn 4 early in the session, with Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) completing the top ten on the opening day at the Chang International Circuit – 0.322 covering P1 to P10 in the lightweight class.

Championship leader Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) could only manage a time quick enough for P21 on the combined times, however, the Spaniard is only 0.673 down on Kornfeil at the top – can he climb his way up the timesheets ahead of qualifying?

Wildcard and home rider Somkiat Chantra (AP Honda Racing Thailand) and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) crashed – riders ok.  

Moto3™ FP3 gets underway at 09:00 local time (GMT +7) on Saturday morning.

Click here for the full results!

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