There was a surprise at Mugello. Somkiat Chantra was the fastest in the first practice session of the Italian Moto2 Grand Prix. The times significantly improved compared to the morning’s free practice, as this session could determine the direct qualifiers for the second qualifying session.
In the initial phase of the session, Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex) led after the first flying laps, before being overtaken by Sergio García (MT Helmets-MSi/Boscoscuro). The Spaniard led for almost 20 minutes before being surpassed by Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing Team/Kalex).
Roberts improved his time twice in the following laps, but with less than ten minutes to go, Chantra set the fastest lap of all: 1m50.841s. Roberts didn’t improve until the end and finished second, just 11 thousandths behind. In a highly competitive session, Fermín Aldeguer (MB Conveyors SpeedUp/Boscoscuro) took third place, 0.075s behind, while his teammate Alonso López finished fourth, 0.087s off the lead.
The top five was completed by Canet (Fantic Racing/Kalex). Despite finishing 17th in free practice, championship leader García once again didn’t make it to the top positions. Nonetheless, he managed to secure eighth place, 0.278s behind Chantra.
A fantastic Friday for @somkiat35 who tops #Moto2 P1 🙌
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) May 31, 2024
A job well done for @Joerobertsracer and @Aldeguer54 too 💪#ItalianGP 🇮🇹 pic.twitter.com/oDCfWYiPrr
