A breathtaking lap saw Enea Bastianini top an incredibly rapid Moto2 practice at Misano this morning as the Italtrans rider’s 1’35.649 lap obliterated the circuit record in a session that witnessed the entire top-six setting 1’35 pace.
Early leader Sam Lowes claimed second ahead of last weekend’s podium sitters Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini. Jake Dixon secured automatic promotion to this afternoon’s final qualifying in ninth.
Lowes lost no time in replicating last Saturday’s spectacular form as he outdid Friday’s record-breaker Marini by a tenth of a second to claim another all-time lap, a 1’35.844, after just seven minutes of track action, improving yet again two laps later with a 1’35.800 to command proceedings as the final Moto2 practice played out.
Jorge Navarro and Marco Bezzecchi also improved their times early on to capture the session’s top-three - Marini’s Friday effort enough to hold fast to second in the combined times with Aron Canet slotting in between the newcomers in fourth.
After a Friday to forget, Jake Dixon returned to the Misano track with renewed confidence and determined to prove his form aboard his Petronas Kalex, hitting the top-five on only his fifth lap, just 0.3 off his countryman’s record-shattering pace and remaining comfortably within the top-10 for the entirety of the 40-minute session.
Lowes’ Marc VDS teammate Augusto Fernandez enjoyed a strong session, initially holding seventh ahead of Marcel Schrotter and Tetsuta Nagashima with Joe Roberts’ Friday time enough to keep him in the top-10 as the riders set out for their final run on new Dunlop rubber in the closing stages.
The final seven minutes saw the action heat up further as Enea Bastianini hit the top, a 1’35.749 his first attempt before further improvement from the Italtrans rider secured the spoils in spectacular style.
Gresini’s Nicolò Bulega promoted himself up the times, finishing sixth ahead of Canet and Navarro, with Bezzecchi bettering his SKY teammate’s pace to take third. Schrotter’s move to the top-five in the penultimate lap left a nervous Roberts on the cliff edge of the top-14, behind Xavi Vierge and Thomas Luthi, the American just holding on to his Q2 spot as the flag came out.
