2019 Motegi Moto3 FP2 Result: Migno Determined To Limit Penalty Damage

After championship leader Lorenzo Dalla Porta stole the show in FP1, it was Aron Canet’s turn to shine at the top of the timing screens for most of FP2 and the Spaniard was sat safely until time attacks started a bit earlier than usual, with 15 minutes left of the session. John McPhee was first to dip into the 1:56s and started the shootout in charge of proceedings but he went unbothered until the very final minute of FP2. Migno then stole the Scotsman’s thunder to become the fastest man on the day, with only Marcos Ramirez managing to join them in the 1:56 club. McPhee dropped to third, only a tenth of a second off the lead.

Class veteran Jakub Kornfeil posted an identical time to Gabriel Rodrigo and even though the Czech rider finished ahead on the timesheets, the Argentine was all the more impressive after a slow start in FP1 following his Thailand misfortunes. Rookie Celestino Vietti once again almost miraculously found some speed to climb to sixth after an underwhelming morning, while Tatsuki Suzuki, Darryn Binder and Kaito Toba joined the top nine lineup with times within four tenths of the leader. Most recent victor, Albert Arenas, completed the top ten.

After adding another tumble at turn five, Dalla Porta left himself in a vulnerable position outside of the top ten ahead of the shootout but managed to save an 11th position out of it, ironically in front of Canet, who could not find much more time on his early benchmark and dropped to 12th. The rest of the all important top 14 positions were grabbed by some of the local favourites, Ai Ogura and Ayumu Sasaki.

Stefano Nepa was the first to miss out on direct Q2 tickets, in the event that Saturday morning is a wash-out, despite being only half a second slower than the top man. The likes of Niccolo Antonelli, Jaume Masia and Tony Arbolino were some of the notable absentees of the top 14 at the conclusion of FP2.

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