Japanese star Yuki Takahashi stormed to the fastest lap in Moto2 on Friday in Portugal. Image: MotoGP.com.

The Moto2 class experienced different fortunes with the weather during Friday practice at Estoril in Portugal, enjoying good conditions for the morning session but being affected by rain in the afternoon.

Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) topped the day’s times with a 1:42.202, closely followed by Tom Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) at 0.011s further back and Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) who was 0.042s off the Japanese rider’s time.

Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) and Michele Pirro (Gresini Racing) were both in the top five, with Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing), Bradley Smith (Tech 3), Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing), Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) and Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) all inside the top 10.

Australia’s Anthony West was 23rd fastest for his MZ Racing team with a 1:43.616.

It was a brave performance from Takahashi, whose brother, Koki, was tragically killed in a traffic accident in Japan earlier this week.

Thanks to the scheduled order of the sessions the 125cc riders escaped the rain along with the MotoGP class, and true to form it was Nico Terol leading the way.

The Bankia Aspar rider’s best lap of 1:46.385 from the second session of the day topped the combined session times, placing him a substantial 0.708s ahead of Sandro Cortese (Intact Racing Team Germany).

The German was followed by Johann Zarco (Avant-AirAsia-Ajo) inside the top three, with Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar) and Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira (Team Andalucía Banca Cívica) completing the top five.