2019 Sachsenring Moto2 FP1 Result: Folger Thrives On Home Ground

The perhaps unexpected championship lead gave a little boost to Tom Luthi, who set an early benchmark before the intermediate class went for a bit of a shootout due to very slight concerns about the weather on Saturday. A hint of sun was casting shadows on track for the attack in the final ten minutes and the third session of the day brought some joy to the local crowds as Jonas Folger continued his comeback by leading the way in FP1. Marcel Schrotter made it a German one-two after a glorious slow-mo moment / save heading towards turn 11, even though the Omega curve gravel trap eventually claimed the Dynavolt rider.

Iker Lecuona was another early leader but dropped to third, almost three tenths of a second slower than the locals ahead. Andrea Locatelli continues his climb towards the spotlight with a fourth position in FP1, while Fabio Di Giannantonio was top rookie in fifth spot, stealing the honour from Jorge Martin by only four hundredths of a second. Luthi dropped to seventh place, ahead of title rival Lorenzo Baldassarri – the duo within half a second of the leader. Stefano Manzi and Bo Bendsneyder were somewhat surprising additions to the top ten, while Jorge Navarro missed out due to a late tumble at turn three.

With narrow gaps throughout the field, there was a select group of riders who looked in unfamiliar territory outside of the top ten, including Luca Marini in 12th position, Alex Marquez 14th, Brad Binder 15th, Remy Gardner 16th and Sam Lowes 19th. Rookie of the year leader Enea Bastianini had a low key morning ending in 22nd position and nearly a second slower than Folger.

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