Stefan Bradl led the Moto2 field from start to finish until crashing out in the closing seconds of practice, while Championship leader Márquez crashed twice in the session, the final incident involving a direct run in with another rider.
Currently second in the Championship after his fourth place finish at Motegi, a determined Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing) led the first practice outing from start to finish, slicing through traffic to set the fastest time of the session of 1’34.039.
The new Championship leader as of the last round, Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol), crashed in the grass on his fourth lap out and was only able to rejoin the outing for the final 60 seconds, wherein he struck Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda Singha-SAG) in an intense collision.
Bradl’s time was nine tenths ahead of nearest contender Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) with Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing) just edging Claudio Corti (Italtrans Racing) by 0.007s to take the third spot in the timings. The two were the final riders under a second behind the leading German.
Mattia Pasini (Ioda Racing Project) ranked fifth with his time of 1’35.125, ahead of Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) and Anthony West (MZ Racing). Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) followed in eighth, while Mike di Meglio (Tech 3 Racing) enjoyed a top ten ranking in ninth. Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing Moto2) completed the top ten.
Other session incidents included Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project) and Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX) both going down in separate high speed crashes, though both were up and walking directly after, while Xavier Simeon (Tech 3 B) went for a long fast ride across the grass though managed to keep it upright.
source: motogp official
