Second look at Austin: Aldeguer dominates Practice 1 / Moto2

Even at the start of the Moto2 “Practice 1” session, the managers were equally busy. Deniz Öncü from the Aki Ajo team and Gresini racer Manuel Gonzales quickly and involuntarily separated from their three-cylinder Kalex racing bikes.

Both drivers were able to resume training almost a quarter of an hour before the end.

Fellow title contender Fermin Aldeguer got off to a better start. A few hours earlier, he was lost in the middle of the field and the 18-year-old quickly appeared in front. With ten minutes to go, none of the 29 riders in the #54 could pose a threat, then it was Joe Roberts who was on his ninth fastest lap – but the American messed up on the final left hand bend and missed out on the improvement . . At the end of practice, the American ride is temporarily in the ejection seat in 14th place, as in Moto2 only the first 14 practice riders go directly into the second qualifying practice.

Teammates Ai Ogura and Sergio Garcia showed how good teamwork works, pushing each other to second and fifth in the final race. Two minutes before the flag, Aron Canet dropped while Belgian Barry Baltus raced to sixth place.

Despite several attempts under a combination of times in the final laps of the jump, Aldeguer was able to defend his position until the last second. England’s Jake Dixon returned well. The Aspar driver is in fifth place after the first day of training.

Husqvarna rider Darryn Binder can improve a lot. The South African halved his deficit, but is still in 19th place, Senna Agius, at 18, the same as the fastest in training, dropped back to 26th in the second half.

Moto2 – training results 1

1. Fermín Aldeguer (E) Sync SpeedUp 2:08,359
2. Sergio Garcia (E) MT Helmets – MSI + 0.282 sec.
3. Dennis Foggia (I) Italtrans + 0.370 sec.
4. Marcos Ramirez (E) USA Championship + 0,424 sec.
5. Jake Dixon (GB) CFMOTO + 0,506 sec.
6. Barry Baltus (B) RW-Idrofoglia GP + 0,536 sec.
7. Celestino Vietti (I) Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.647 sec.
8. Alonso Lopez (E) Balance SpeedUp + 0,685 seconds.
9. Ai Ogura (J) MT Helmets – MSI + 0,708 sec.
10. Aron Canet (E) Fantic + 0.768 sec.