Interwetten’s Tom Luthi continued to dominate proceedings at the Twin Ring Motegi in the Moto2 class after topping final free practice ahead of qualifying this afternoon.
The Swiss rider ended Friday three tenths clear of the field and was on strong pace from the off in FP3. Luthi, a former winner at Motegi, clocked a 1m50.373s on his 10th lap of the session after a string of fastest laps.
Marc VDS’s Franco Morbidelli was Luthi’s closest challenger in second, though the Italian was over three tenths off the pace. Ajo Motorsport’s Johann Zarco completed the top three and looks in a strong position to give his championship challenge a big boost this weekend.
The Frenchman’s rivals Sam Lowes and Alex Rins are struggling massively at the Twin Ring Motegi. The British rider, who suffered a small tumble at Turn 10 15 minutes into the session, ended FP3 down in 17th, 1.4 seconds off the pace. Things were much worse for Alex Rins, who was down in 27th and 2.2 seconds away from Luthi.
The Spaniard crashed yesterday at the final corner and took a knock to his injured shoulder, forcing him to miss all of FP2. Not riding at full fitness, there is a chance that the Pons rider could sit out the race.
Forward Racing’s Lorenzo Baldassarri will be quite content with fourth place, with Dynavolt Intact GP’s Jonas Folger completing the top five. Alex Marquez brushed off an early fall to go sixth fastest ahead of home hero Takaaki Nakagami. Axel Pons, Hafizh Syahrin and Sandro Cortese completed the top 10.
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