Americans Joe Roberts and Cameron Beaubier ended the Moto2 practice sessions today in 16th and 29th, respectively, as the MotoGP series returned to the Red Bull Ring in Austria for a second week in a row, this time for the Grand Prix of Austria.
Italtrans Racing’s Roberts was one of a handful of riders to improve in the afternoon session, which was held in dry conditions but following what was mostly a wet MotoGP session. Roberts’ best lap came on the 18th of 23 laps in FP2, the 1:29.471 placing him 16th overall on the opening day. American Racing’s Beaubier had a best lap of 1:30.301, which came in FP1, despite a crash, with the five-time MotoAmerica Superbike Champion lapping at 1:30.593 in FP2.
The day was led by IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura with the Japanese rider lapping at 1:28.887 in FP1 to best Elf Marc VDS Racing’s Augusto Fernandez by .007 of a second. Moto2 World Championship leader Remy Gardner turned in his best in FP2 and ended up third on the day with his 1:28.967.
Gardner qualified on pole position for last week’s race with a 1:28.668.
Roberts’ best lap in qualifying last week was a 1:29.531, so the Californian has already bettered that lap. Beaubier qualified 24th last week with a 1:29.747 – .554 of a second better than his best today.
