Antonelli Quickest After Friday Practice
- Oct 9, 2015
- 2 min read
Niccolo Antonelli finished both of the Friday practice sessions for the Japanese Grand Prix as the quickest rider in Moto3.
The young Italian set a 1m57.500s lap in the first session which was good enough to be the overall fastest on Friday after hotter conditions in the second session resulted in the majority of riders not improving their FP1 times. Antonelli ended the day one tenth ahead of the winner from the last race at Aragon, Miguel Oliveira. Title contender Enea Bastianini was third overall but suffered a heavy crash at turn nine in the first session but fortunately escaped injury.
Indianapolis Grand Prix winner Livio Loi was a surprise fourth quickest having used a fresh set of slicks at the start of the second session which was the opposite to the majority of the field who opted for used tyres. Brad Binder ended the day fifth just ahead of Alexis Masbou and championship leader Danny Kent down in seventh. Romano Fenati, Jorge Navarro and Francesco Bagnaia rounded out the top ten.
After the sessions, Danny Kent confirmed that the team had difficulty setting up the bike well. Speaking to motogp.com, Kent said: “It was a difficult opening day here in Japan even though I enjoy riding at this circuit a lot. But we struggled to set up the bike well, particularly that it doesn’t turn. I’m really fighting a lot with the bike almost in every corner throughout a lap so we just need work hard and analyse the data in order to make a big chance for tomorrow because I felt we’re at the limit with the bike without making any progress.”
Kent was on course to extend his championship lead last time out but a dramatic last lap at Aragon saw his title rival Bastianini crash two corners from the end before Kent himself crashing at the final turn. Kent will be looking for a return to form after struggling to maintain his dominance of the first half of the season.
Moto3 Japanese GP Friday Combined Top 10:
1ST – Niccolo ANTONELLI, 1m57.500s
2ND – Miguel OLIVEIRA, 1m57.607s
3RD – Enea BASTIANINI, 1m57.799s
4TH – Livio LOI, 1m58.081s
5TH – Brad BINDER, 1m58.113s
6TH – Alexis MASBOU, 1m58.118s
7TH – Danny KENT, 1m58.134s
8TH – Romano FENATI, 1m58.188s
9TH – Jorge NAVARRO, 1m58.248s
10TH – Francesco BAGNAIA, 1m58.312s
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