Look at the margins here, my friends. David Alonso put his CFMOTO Inde Aspar Team machine right at the summit of the Moto2 timesheets on Friday, setting a blistering 1:58.511 early in the running. But here is the beauty of it: it was by the skin of his teeth. Home hero Filip Salač, flying the flag for the OnlyFans American Racing Team, finished a mere 0.018s adrift in P2. That is proper racing right there.
Running in scorching Brno temperatures, the action was fierce at the sharp end. World Championship leader Manuel Gonzalez slotted his Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP bike into third, leaving the top three drivers covered by a staggering 0.108s as the weekend gets properly underway. Unfortunately, the intensity of the track also brought out the red flags when Barry Baltus suffered a heavy crash at Turn 13. The REDS Fantic Racing rider was subsequently taken to hospital for further checks.
Digging further down the order, Alonso's teammate Daniel Holgado put in a solid shift to end Friday in P4. Right behind him was Hungarian GP podium finisher Senna Agius, who made his presence known for the Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP squad by locking down P5. Alex Escrig grabbed sixth for the KLINT Racing Team, closely followed by Izan Guevara of the BLU CRU Pramac Yamaha Moto2 outfit in seventh.
Further down, we had a proper scrap for position. Celestino Vietti, currently sitting third in the championship, had to dig deep after a technical issue hampered his FP1 session. The Italian from the HDR SpeedRS Team managed to squeeze into Q2 by the narrowest of margins in P14.
Special mention must go to rookie Taiyo Furusato. The Idemitsu Honda Team Asia rider secured 11th place and bagged his very first automatic Q2 result of the season. He crossed the timing line just one position behind fellow rookie Jose Antonio Rueda, who was repping the Red Bull KTM Ajo colors.
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