Mattia Pasini ended the first day of Moto2 track action ahead of the Czech Grand Prix fastest of all, after the Italian headed Francesco Bagnaia in the dry second session.
The day got off to a wet start, with KTM’s Miguel Oliveira – who spun a few laps on the RC16 MotoGP bike during the summer break – leading Simone Corsi and Xavi Vierge with a best lap of 2m15.724s.
By the time the afternoon session got underway, the 3.36-mile Brno circuit was completely dry and the field wasted no time in hammering in the laps.
After the opening few minutes of running, Pasini led the way with a 2m03.670s, which kept him at the top of the standings for eight minutes before championship leader Franco Morbidelli deposed him with a 2m03.657s.
Pasini struck back with 15 minutes remaining, lowering the benchmark to a 2m03.445s, and then to a 2m03.304s two laps later.
Sky VR46 rider Bagnaia – who was sixth this morning – took over top spot briefly, but not even traffic in the form of Oliveira on his final lap could deny Pasini the fastest lap of the day with a 2m02.975s.
Bagnaia was cut 0.262 seconds adrift at the chequered flag, while Vierge proved he had strong dry weather pace to compliment his speed in the wet in third.
Oliveira heads into Saturday’s running fourth overall ahead of Sandro Cortese, who is set to meet with several teams this weekend about potential rides in Moto2 next season after the Dynavolt team confirmed his departure at the end of the season in Germany.
Morbidelli – who suffered a small crash this morning – ended the day sixth fastest, 0.488s off the pace but ahead of his main championship rivals.
Luca Marini headed Jorge Navarro in seventh, while Dominique Aegerter and Tom Luthi rounded out the top 10 from Isaac Vinales.
Corsi was 12th at the end of second practice ahead of Alex Marquez, who is in some discomfort after fracturing several vertebrae in his heavy Sachsenring crash before the summer break. Fabio Quartararo and Hafizh Syahrin completed the top 15.
Moto2 debutant Joe Roberts, who will replace Yonny Hernandez at AGR for the rest of the year, enjoyed a solid start to proceeding in the world championship.
14th in the wet opening session, the American was just 3.1s off the pace in 32nd in the dry second session and just over 1.5s outside of the top 20. Karel Hanika, also making his debut in Moto2, completed the 33-strong field ahead of his home race.
