The first two days of the Japanese Grand Prix, which takes place at the Motegi Mobility Resort, were affected by rain and bad weather. Although the track was not in optimal conditions, with the asphalt still wet and slippery, the Moto2™ and Moto3™ riders equipped with Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tires managed to set new all-time lap records already in P1 on Friday, and then improved them in qualifying.
In Moto2™, Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team/CFMOTO) took pole at the start of Q2, as it started to rain, preventing riders from improving their times, with Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2/Kalex) setting a new all-time lap record in Q1.
Iván Ortolá (MT Helmets-MSI/KTM) was the fastest rider in Moto3™, both in practice and qualifying, and took pole for tomorrow’s race with a new all-time lap record, almost 1.4 seconds ahead of the previous one.
New all-time lap records even with variable weather and less than optimal track conditions
“The first two days were strongly affected by weather, with almost ever-present cloudy skies and a fine rain that wet the track on several occasions, greatly limiting its evolution and thus making it more difficult for teams and riders to work on the bike setup for the race. The morning practice sessions, i.e. FP and P2, took place almost entirely in the wet or, in the best case, with the track drying a few minutes before the session ended. As a consequence, the riders used wet tyres for almost the entire session, and then switched to slicks towards the end with the track still a bit damp. The P1 session on Friday afternoon was the only one to be held in dry conditions, and, despite the riders not having familiarized with slick yet and the track’s less than optimal conditions, new all-time lap records were achieved, both in Moto2™ and Moto3™, with further improvements in Moto3™ qualifying, while in Moto2™ Q2 the rain prevented any furthering. All tyre types behaved very well: rain tyres did their job to a T, even toward the sessions’ end, when the trajectory was almost completely dry, and the slicks mastered a solid performance, managing to compensate for the lack of grip due to the slightly slippery asphalt and the presence of many wet patches on the track. While it might rain again between today and tomorrow, and the weather remains uncertain, the Moto2™ and Moto3™ races should take place on dry, and rain is forecast again in the afternoon”.
Moto2™
· Moto2™ qualifying was affected by the rain that began to fall in the second part of Q2. Jake Dixon (CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team/CFMOTO) took pole in 1’52.693s, a much higher time than the all-time lap record set by Manuel Gonzalez (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2/Kalex) in Q1 (1’49.711). Zonta VD Goorbergh and Barry Baltus too raced under the track record.
· On Friday afternoon’s P1, three other riders fell below the all-time lap record, with Filip Salac (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team/Kalex) improving it by almost 2 tenths.
· In line with the other riders, Dixon and Gonzalez used soft compound tyres for both axles in qualifying, with SC0 rear and SC1 front.
Moto3™
· Using soft SC1 rear and medium SC2 front tyres, Iván Ortolá (MT Helmets-MSI/KTM) took pole position for tomorrow’s race on his last attempt with a 1’54.761 lap that also earned him a new all-time lap record, with an improvement of almost 1.4 seconds compared to the previous record set by Jaume Masia in 2023 (1’56.148). The Spanish KTM rider was also the fastest in the practice sessions, and beat the track record lap in 1’55.550 already in P1.
· Although Ortolá was the only one to break the 1’55 barrier, many riders fell below the previous all-time lap record: beside the Spanish rider, 8 riders succeeded in P1 – the only dry practice session – and 7 in qualifying.
· Air and asphalt temperatures were on average quite low: qualifying was held with 20 degrees Celsius in the air and 23 on the asphalt, while the highest temperature was reached two days ago, on Friday, in P1, with 30°C asphalt temperature, and 25°C air temperature. |
