There was a surprise in Motegi during the first practice session of the Japanese Moto2 GP. Somkiat Chantra was the fastest rider of the session, beating the championship leader, Pedro Acosta.
After the initial flying laps, Filip Salac (QJMotor Gresini/Kalex) was the leader, but he was overtaken shortly afterward by Tony Arbolino (Elf Marc VDS/Kalex). The Italian also couldn’t hold onto the position for long. With just over 12 minutes elapsed, Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex) became the first rider to establish himself at the front.
The Thai rider led for nearly 20 minutes before being overtaken by Manuel González (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp/Kalex). In the following six minutes, two more riders took the lead: Ai Ogura (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia/Kalex) and Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo/Kalex).
Two minutes from the checkered flag, Chantra set a lap time of 1m50.477s that proved unbeatable. Acosta finished 0.140s behind, with Salac in third and González in fourth. Jake Dixon (Inde GasGas Aspar/Kalex) completed the top five.
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