Somkiat Chantra’s outstanding performance continues in the Moto2 Japanese GP. The rider from Idemitsu Honda Team Asia was also the fastest in the third practice session, leading all the sessions at Motegi so far.
The Thai rider was already leading after the first flying laps but was later overtaken by Marcos Ramírez (Onlyfans American Racing/Kalex). The Spanish rider took turns at the front with Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex) in the following laps, but #37 took command after the first ten minutes.
In the final five minutes, Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex) briefly took the top spot, but Chantra reclaimed it in the closing moments, finishing 0.277s faster. Acosta was third, followed by Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS/Kalex) and Fermín Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro).
In the combined standing after the three practice sessions, Arón Canet (Pons Wegow Los40/Kalex) finished fourth, being one of the few riders not to improve compared to yesterday, and Lowes ended up in fifth place. Filip Salac (QJMotor Gresini/Kalex) secured the last direct spot in Q2 with the 14th fastest time, while Bo Bendsneyder (Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team/Kalex) missed out by just 0.018s. Jake Dixon (Inde GasGas Aspar/Kalex), in 16th place, is another rider who will have to go through Q1.
P3 timesheet:
Combined standings P1 + P2 + P3: