It are small but encouraging steps forward that Bo Bendsneyder and Dominique Aegerter made on the first day of the Styrian GP. Compared to last weekend, the differences on the Red Bull Ring had become smaller. Aegerter ended the day with the 18th fastest time (1.29.528) in the combined standings of the two free practices. Bendsneyder finished in 27th place with 1.29.956. The combined standings are largely based on the times that were driven in the first practice for Moto2. Hardly any times were improved in FP2 and it was clear that everyone had difficulty with the higher temperatures. For the riders of NTS RW Racing GP, the return to the Red Bull Ring, this time under the flag of the Austrian state of Styria, was a small improvement compared to a week ago. In any case, the differences to the top were slightly smaller than last weekend. Aegerter was at 0,795 of the fastest, Bendsneyder at 1,223. A total of 24 riders were within a second.
Bo Bendsneyder: “It’s not where we need to be yet, but the bike was certainly easier to ride this morning than last weekend. The bike is set-up very differently than last week and I still have to get used to that. As a result, a very fast lap was not yet possible. We are certainly still too far away, but the differences are smaller and that is positive. It was not possible to improve the times this afternoon in the warmer conditions, but we did find something that might help us tomorrow.”
Results FP2:
Pos | Rider | Team | Fastest lap |
1 | Marco BEZZECCHI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’29.092 |
2 | Remy GARDNER | Onexox TKKR SAG Team | 1’29.134 |
3 | Jorge NAVARRO | EGO Speed Up | 1’29.302 |
4 | Somkiat CHANTRA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’29.350 |
5 | Hector GARZO | Flexbox HP 40 | 1’29.406 |
6 | Luca MARINI | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’29.472 |
7 | Thomas LUTHI | Liqui Moly Intact GP | 1’29.509 |
8 | Jorge MARTIN | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’29.538 |
9 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Liqui Moly Intact GP | 1’29.558 |
10 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’29.564 |
11 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’29.577 |
12 | Sam LOWES | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | 1’29.623 |
13 | Aron CANET | Openbank Aspar Team | 1’29.644 |
14 | Marcos RAMIREZ | Tennor American Racing | 1’29.651 |
15 | Enea BASTIANINI | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’29.683 |
16 | Edgar PONS | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’29.699 |
17 | Xavi VIERGE | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’29.726 |
18 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | Flexbox HP 40 | 1’29.842 |
19 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | Italtrans Racing Team | 1’29.965 |
20 | Andi Farid IZDIHAR | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | 1’29.975 |
21 | Dominique AEGERTER | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’29.975 |
22 | Joe ROBERTS | Tennor American Racing | 1’30.016 |
23 | Jake DIXON | Petronas Sprinta Racing | 1’30.046 |
24 | Stefano MANZI | MV Agusta Forward Racing | 1’30.074 |
25 | Nicolò BULEGA | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | 1’30.103 |
26 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | EGO Speed Up | 1’30.107 |
27 | Kasma DANIEL | Onexox TKKR SAG Team | 1’30.360 |
28 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NTS RW Racing GP | 1’30.416 |
29 | Simone CORSI | MV Agusta Forward Racing | 1’30.641 |
30 | Alejandro MEDINA | Openbank Aspar Team | 1’31.145 |
Source: motogp.com, rwracinggp.com