Jake Dixon (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) just edged out home hero Ayumu Sasaki (RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP) on Friday in Japan, taking to the top in Moto2 Practice by a tenth and a half late on after the 71 set the pace for much of the session. Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) completes the top three, earning a place after the session following a tyre pressure infringement that scrubbed off the best lap for Izan Guevara (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2).
Third in the Championship, Aron Canet (Fantic Racing) is much further down the order, suffering a crash in the session and now heading for Q1, as is his teammate Barry Baltus, who holds P4 in the Championship and also crashed.
Second in the standings, Diogo Moreira (Italtrans Racing Team), took P7 on Friday in a solid start to the weekend. He’s equal on points with Canet but has one more win so technically leads the Spaniard.
Tony Arbolino (BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2), rookie Daniel Holgado (CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team) and Joe Roberts (OnlyFans American Racing) slot into fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.
Zonta den van Goorbergh (RW-Idrofoglia Racing GP) is P8, with rookie Collin Veijer (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Misano winner Celestino Vietti (Beta Tools SpeedRS Team) completing the top ten.
