CarXpert Interwetten’s Tom Luthi kicked off the 2017 Moto2 World Championship top of the time sheets in FP1, with Takaaki Nakagami just a fraction off in second.
The Swiss rider shot to the top of the pile early on with a 2m00.422s on the soft Dunlop rear tyres, and remained largely unchallenged until the end of the 45-minutes session when Nakagami started setting the timing screens alight.
The Honda Team Asia rider, who was fastest in the fragmented Qatar test last week, missed out on Luthi’s time by just 0.080s. Ajo Motorsport’s Miguel Oliveira took the new KTM chassis to third, and was only just over a tenth off of the pace.
Marc VDS Racing’s Franco Morbidelli has looked strong throughout the winter, and will undoubtedly be a threat this weekend after ending the opening session 0.180s down in fourth. Team-mate Alex Marquez completed the top five.
Mattia Pasini edged Axel Pons, with Danny Kent close behind in eighth. The Briton only completed a handful of laps because of a mechanical issue, but still ended the session as top Suter rider.
Fabio Quartararo was top Moto2 rookie in ninth, with Luca Marini rounding out the top 10 on his Forward Racing machine. Sandro Cortese was a tenth adrift in 11th, and headed Pecco Bagnaia, Lorenzo Baldassarri, Marcel Schrotter and Jorge Navarro.
Reigning Moto3 world champion Brad Binder ended his first official race session as a Moto2 rider in the gravel. The South African was pushing hard in the closing stages to improve on 18th position when he slid off at the final corner, luckily to no ill-effect.
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