MotoGP Portimao: Schrotter heads Friday’s Moto2 action

Liqui Moly Intact GP’s Marcel Schrotter made a late move to secure the Moto2 standings on Friday afternoon at Portimao.

The German’s 2’00.678 time sat half a second clear of Jake Dixon on the Autosolar GasGas Aspar with the Stateside duo of Cameron Beaubier and Joe Roberts neatly behind. Sam Lowes completed the top five.

The heavens opened as Moto2’s morning practice got the green light, the pack waiting in the pits for an improvement in the torrential conditions before any action began.

A few tentative riders set out to explore the situation after ten minutes, with Italtrans’ Roberts the only rider to set a time - of 2’09.552. Keminth Kubo and Zonta van den Goorbergh followed suit, albeit one and three seconds slower respectively before the Yamaha VR46 Master Camp rider ended his exploration in the gravel.

The final ten minutes saw a gaggle of riders take to the track as the rains abated. Van den Goorbergh upping the pace with a 2’06.336 and 14 riders in circulation. Manuel Gonzales suffered a major highside at turn eight with five to go, the second Master Camp rider sitting second overall, eight-tenths adrift of the RW Racing time.

The action completed with a slow slide out of turn 13 for Roberts as the chequered flag brought the opening practice to its limping conclusion.

The afternoon began in a similar vein as the rain continued to fall across the day. Barry Baltus set the pace with a 2’05.106 from Roberts and Romano Fenati as van den Goorbergh crashed out in the middle of turn eight. Augusto Fernandez lucky to miss the RW machine as he crested the blind corner on the Red Bull KTM narrowly behind.

Championship leader Celestino Vietti joined the action in fourth before Rookie Pedro Acosta climbed to third. Dixon and