Arón Canet beats surprising Fermín Aldeguer in Moto2 free practice in Barcelona

Practice under way as Moto2 riders sample the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the first time since 2019

Arón Canet beats surprising Fermín Aldeguer in first session, with Augusto Fernandez third

Arón Canet came out on top in a thrilling opening Moto2™ free practice session at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya, the Spaniard pipping surprise pacesetter Fermín Aldeguer to the top spot by just 0.038s.

The session was red-flagged twice early on as riders got to grips with the newly resurfaced Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but once it got going it was Aldeguer who quickly moved clear at the top of the timesheets.

The Boscoscuro rider lowered the benchmark several times before Canet eventually wrestled it away from him late on. Fernandez was forced to settle for third but the gap to the top was a mere 0.170s.

There were also strong performances from Jake Dixon (+0.238s), Pedro Acosta (+0.357s) and Albert Arenas (+0.425s) as Gresini Racing, Red Bull KTM Ajo and Pons Racing all featured prominently inside the top six.

The second Moto2™ free practice session is scheduled for 15:15 local time (GMT+2).