Ai Ogura set the pace on the first day of Moto2 practice for the Malaysian Grand Prix. The Japanese rider set the fastest time on Friday in the final minutes of the second session.
Marcos Ramírez (OnlyFans American Racing/Kalex) was in the lead after the first flying laps, just one thousandth of a second ahead of Alonso López (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro). The first of the Spaniards reinforced his position with his subsequent attempts. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex) moved up to third.
While Ramírez remained out of reach at the front, Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex) reached second place, 0.125s behind. More changes with 20 minutes to go, when Fermín Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro) reached third.
Within the last five minutes, Ramírez was finally overtaken, and by three riders. Jake Dixon (Inde GasGas Aspar/Kalex) took the lead, Acosta in second, and Arón Canet (Pons Wegow Los40/Kalex) in third. Later, Canet took the lead, but couldn’t avoid being beaten by Ogura, who was 0.100s faster.
Until the end, the top positions did not change. Ogura was the fastest in practice and on Friday. Canet finished second, with Dixon in third and Acosta in fourth. Aldeguer, who set the pace in the morning session, was fifth. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS/Kalex) finished only 18th.
Times:
Combined P1 + P2 times:
