Manuel González dictated the pace in the second practice session of the Portuguese Moto2 Grand Prix with a new lap record at the Algarve International Circuit. The session was closely contested, with the top four riders separated by just over two tenths of a second.
Arón Canet (Fantic Racing/Kalex) led after the initial laps, maintaining his position with his subsequent attempt. The Spaniard improved again about 12 minutes into the session, holding the top spot for over a quarter of an hour.
Alonso López (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro) dethroned Canet from the lead with a new lap record, becoming the first Moto2 rider to lap Portimão in under 1m41s. However, three minutes later, González did even better: 1m41.716s. A lap that no one else could beat. Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS/Kalex) finished second, 0.115s behind.
As a result, López dropped to third place, followed by his teammate Fermín Aldeguer. Celestino Vietti (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex) completed the top five. All riders set their best laps in this session, which corresponds to the combined times of the two timed sessions.
Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika Gas Up Team/Kalex), in 14th, was the last rider directly qualified for the second qualifying. Rookie Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team/Kalex) finished 15th, just 0.031s off that mark. Also heading to Q1 will be, among others, Ai Ogura (MT Helmets-MSi/Boscoscuro) and last year’s Moto3 world champion, Jaume Masiá (Pertamina Mandalika Gas Up/Kalex).
Timesheets: