Pedro Acosta finishes fourth, while Albert Arenas is eleventh.

Friday saw the on-track action for the Japanese GP get underway at Mobility Resort Motegi. The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto2 riders had a good feeling and improved their times, making their way into Q2. Pedro Acosta set the fourth best time of the day, while Albert Arenas finished eleventh.

Practice 1 took place under good conditions at Motegi. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders used the session as their first contact with the track, and began preparing for the race. Acosta worked focused on his pace and, after a pit stop, placed in second position, with a time of 1:50.617, from his penultimate lap. Arenas made use of the practice to get comfortable and make adjustments to his setup, putting in 16 laps. He finished in fourteenth place with a time of 1:51.567.

In the afternoon, Practice 2 enabled the riders to take another step forward and continue fine-tuning their setup for qualifying. Acosta had clear objectives in mind, and came close to improving his morning time, but he nevertheless remained in the top positions of the timesheets. Acosta finished in fourth position thanks to his 1:50.646 lap, clocked on his penultimate attempt. Arenas made great progress and was able to increase his pace after improving his feeling. The Spaniard continues to recover from injury, but is increasingly competitive and made his way into the Top 10 with a time of 1:51.082. Acosta and Arenas were fourth and eleventh on the combined timesheets.

Moto2 qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix will take place on Saturday from 1:45 PM, local time.

Results (Combined practice times P1 – P2)
1. Somkiat Chantra (Kalex) 1:50.396
2. Aron Canet (Kalex) 1:50.433 +0.037
3. Sam Lowes (Kalex) 1:50.546 +0.150
4. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:50.617 + 0.221
5. Ai Ogura (Kalex) 1:50.804 + 0.408
11. Albert Arenas (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 1:51.082 + 0.686

#37 PEDRO ACOSTA

“We have started the weekend well. We worked focusing on the pace for the race and the feeling was good. We have room for improvement, so tomorrow we will look to take one more step in qualifying and get a good starting position for Sunday.”

#75 ALBERT ARENAS

“It has been a positive day for me. We continue to take steps forward in my recovery and pick up more and more pace. We will see tomorrow how the day goes, but I will continue working hard with the team and we will concentrate on taking more steps forward, to be in the best shape for qualifying.”