Thai Somkiat Chantra (Kalex) marked the transition to the favorites of its category Moto2 in the first free practice session of the Indian Grand Prix at the ‘Buddh International’ circuit. Somkiat Chantra achieved the best time in the category with a time of 1:52.596.
Shortly after, events started in Moto2. The fall of Spaniard Sergio García Dols (Kalex) and Italian Celestino Vietti (Kalex)He went airborne at the first corner of the Indian circuit and his bike ended up in the middle of the track with the clock still showing 51:43 minutes into the session, 55 minutes ahead of which the organization had extended this first test. The session is free.
Japan’s Ai Ogura (Kalex) became the category’s first leader, lapping with a time of 1:56.134, more than half a second faster than his immediate pursuer, but obviously he still had many tests and some fears ahead of him. He came in very tight between Turns 8 and 9 and had to straighten the bike to avoid falling, luckily at a spot with plenty of escape points for riders. Ogura did not stay at the top of the time table for long, being overtaken by many riders, with Thailand’s Somkiat Chantra (Kalex) being the second valid reference with 1:53.906. constant dance of pilots in initial positions.
As the laps progressed the riders adapted to the conditions of the Indian circuit, but Somkiat achieved a new fast time series of 1:53.813 and 1:53.781, despite Chantra being the opponent to beat. I had a hard time memorizing the route and made a lot of mistakes in the first laps.
Chantra led Italian Tony Arbolino (Kalex) in the second part of the session with a time of 1:53.756. Arbolino, the most direct rival to championship leader Spaniard Pedro Acosta, was then still unable to match the pace of the Indian circuit and was ranked tenth on the timesheets, although he had moved up to fifth after entering the final twenty minutes. We are 265 thousandths of a second away from Transalpine.
Gradually the world championship leader dominated the Indian circuit and rose to first place in the final quarter hour with a time of 1:53.642, followed by Tony Arbolino and Somkiat Chantra, a tenth of a second faster. references are closer.
The last minutes were very competitive with the tough fight of Pedro Acosta, Ai Ogura, Jake Dixon, Tony Arbolino and Somkiat Chantra. Especially Somkiat Chantra took him to first place with a time of 1:52.596. More than two tenths of a second ahead of Pedro AcostaAi Ogura, who left the track in the last lap without falling, took third place. He closed the top ten places and finished fourth, after British Jake Dixon (Kalex), Czech Filip Salac, Italian Tony Arbolino, Spanish Manuel González, American Joe Roberts, Italian Dennis Foggia and British Sam Lowes. them on the roads of Kalex.