On the first two days of the Grand Prix of Thailand, Pirelli’s soft compounds were the protagonists in both Moto2™ and Moto3™.
In Moto2â„¢,Âthe championship leader Ai Ogura (MT Helmets-MSI/Boscoscuro)Âset a new all-time lap record in P2 and then took pole position for tomorrow’s race; in Moto3â„¢,Âthe Australian Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports/KTM) is on pole,Âeven though in qualifying he couldn’t match the new all-time lap record set byÂDavid Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team/CFMOTO)Âin FP on Friday morning.

Very fast riders and new lap records
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“Yesterday, with the track still to be rubberised, in FP David Alonso dropped below the track record lap, improving it by more than 1.3 seconds; the same result was obtained by Aron Canet in Moto2â„¢ in P1 in the afternoon and then greatly improved by Ai Ogura in P2 this morning. The riders were very fast right from the start, even if the track offers a quite low grip, and this condition usually worsens in the afternoon, when asphalt temperatures rise by up to 15 degrees compared to morning sessions, making the track more slippery. This explains why in today’s qualifying, despite the evolving track’s conditions, and with higher temperatures than in the morning, the riders only got very close to the lap record, without improving it. With such a surface, even though not especially abrasive but with a poor grip, soft compounds are undoubtedly the most suitable, which is why they have been the most used so far and will also be for tomorrow’s races, where in all likelihood all Moto2â„¢ riders will choose soft SC1 for the front and soft SC0 for the rear. And Moto3â„¢riders will mostly opt for SC1 – which is the softest solution for this class – on the rear wheel, while the choice on the front axle will depend – as usual – on individual riding style and preferences”.

Moto2â„¢

·ÂSoft compounds, SC1 on the front wheel and SC0 on the rear wheel, were widely used on these first two days. Few riders tried the medium SC2 front or medium SC1 rear and, mostly, they did so in the first session, Friday’s FP.

·ÂJapanese Ai Ogura (MT Helmets-MSI/Boscoscuro)Âtook pole position with a time of 1’34.728, just over the 1’34.595Âhe set in P2, which earned him a new all-time lap record with an improvement of 7 tenths on the time set last year by Pedro Acosta (1’35.297).

·ÂAron Canet (Fantic Racing/Kalex) was the first to break the previous track record in P1 on Friday afternoon. Overall, 18 riders completed at least one lap under the previous track record in these first two days..
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Moto3â„¢
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·ÂLapping in 1’40.603Âon his final lap, Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports/KTM) took pole positionÂfor tomorrow’s race. The Australian used slick tyres in the soft SC1 compound on both axles.
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·ÂOn medium SC2 front and soft SC1 rear tyres, David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team/CFMOTO)Âwas the fastest rider ever, dominating both Friday sessions and setting a new all-time lap record in 1’40.544 in the FP session,Âover 1.3 seconds faster than the time set by Deniz Öncü in 2023. Overall, during all sessions, , a total of 23 riders out of a total of 26 fell below the previous track record.
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·ÂThe morning sessions – i.e. FP on Friday and P2 on Saturday – took place with 36°C of asphalt temperatureÂand just under 30°C of air temperature, while in yesterday afternoon’s P1 there were 53°C on the track. In qualifying, there were 41°C on the asphalt and 30°C in the air.