Moto2 heads to the Sepang circuit to contest the penultimate round of its 2024 season. The title is now awarded, as Ai Ogura ensured he lifted the world crown in Thailand, leaving Buriram with more than fifty points ahead of his closest pursuer, Aron Canet. However, the stakes remain high, since the latter is competing for the title of vice-world champion with a few drivers from the top of the ranking. This Friday, the Moto2 riders' weekend began in Malaysia with P1. It is now time to compete in P2, to find out who will be the first 14 to get a ticket for Q2.
Here is a table that summarizes the known facts
:
| Moto2™ Malaysia, Sepang | 2023 | 2024 |
| FP | 2'06.183 Fermin Adleguer | 2’06.255 Jake Dixon |
| P1 | 2'06.293 Ai Ogura | 2'05,576 Manuel Gonzalez |
| P2 | 2'05.316 Fermin Aldeguer | 2’04.775 Albert Arenas |
| Q1 | 2’05.724 Tony Arbolino | |
| Q2 | 2'05,288 Fermin Aldeguer | |
| Course | Aldeguer, Acosta, Ramirez (See here) | |
| Record | 2’04.769 Brad Binder (2019) |
Before the start of Q2, the absence of Ayumu Sasaki for the rest of the weekend was announced. Following a fall the day before, the Japanese suffered a fracture which prevented him from continuing in Malaysia.
Moto3 P2 saw the white flags with red crosses being waved around the track, suggesting the arrival of the first drops of rain. Moto2 riders will, however, be spared by the weather. If the rain makes a very brief appearance on the track, the drivers are still fully capable of improving their times from the day before.
On the timing side, it was Izan Guevara who struck first, dislodging Manuel González from first place in the ranking by a tenth at the start of the session. However, lap times are changing very quickly, and the gaps are more than tight.
Throughout the last quarter of an hour, the top-14 are held within just half a second. Five minutes from the end of the session, Albert Arenas is in the lead, in 2:04.775, while the time signed by Izan Guevara during the first moments of P2, in 2:05.291, places him in fourteenth provisional position.
Before the checkered flag, many drivers improved, but no one was able to catch Albert Arenas who succeeded his teammate, Manuel González, the fastest in P1.
With the time which allows him to take the lead, Arenas moves to five thousandths of the Moto2 lap record, held by Brad Binder since the 2019 season.
Note the fall of Barry Baltus at turn 2 at the start of the session. The Belgian finally finished P2 in twentieth position, just over a second from the head of the standings.
Results from P2 of the Malaysian Moto2 Grand Prix at Sepang:
Ranking credit: MotoGP.com
Moto2 Malaysia P2
