Mika Kallio got his Brno weekend off to a flying start, topping the timesheet in this afternoon’s second free practice session. Scott Redding ended the day eighth, after making significant changes to the bike ahead of this afternoon’s second 45-minute practice.

Kallio was fast from the start today, ending this morning’s opening session sixth after making significant changes to the set-up of his Kalex Moto2 machine to better suit the characteristics of the Brno circuit. The 30-year-old Finn made further changes ahead of this afternoon’s second session, to improve stability under heavy braking, with positive results. Kallio set the fastest time of the session on his final flying lap to end the day second on combined times, just 0.1s behind provisional pole sitter, Pol Espargaro.

Redding struggled to find a good feeling with the bike during this morning’s 45-minute session, which he finished in 14th position and more than a second off the fastest time of Espargaro. The feeling was much better during this afternoon’s second free practice session, with the current Moto2 Championship leader shaving almost a second off his lap time to finish eighth overall.

Livio Loi endured a difficult opening day at Brno, struggling to find a good feeling with his Kalex-KTM in both of today’s 40-minute practice sessions. After finishing 21st this morning, Loi managed to improve his lap time by more than a second this afternoon, but slipped to 25th on combined times as his rivals also improved.

Jules Danilo made good progress on his second appearance as a wild card rider for the Marc VDS Racing Team. The 18-year-old Frenchman used this morning’s free practice session to familiarise himself with the Brno circuit and to readapt to the Kalex-KTM after two races aboard a Suter Honda. Danilo improved his lap time by almost two seconds this afternoon, ending the day a creditable 31st.

Mika Kallio #36: 2nd – 2’03.230
“We made some big changes to the settings compared to Indianapolis, to make the bike more stable under hard braking and also through the fast and flowing turns here at Brno. We definitely went the right way, because the feeling was good from the start this morning. This afternoon we made some slight modifications to the rear of the bike, to reduce the pushing from the rear under braking, which gave me a much better feeling with the front; probably the best feeling I’ve had all season. Now we just need to be careful not to change too many things for tomorrow.”

Scott Redding #45: 8th – 2’03.601
“I struggled a bit this morning to be honest. We went a bit the wrong way with the set-up and I couldn’t find the good rhythm that’s so important here at Brno. We made some improvements this afternoon, which allowed me to close a little on the top of the timesheet, but there is definitely more to come. We didn’t want to try too many changes this afternoon, as I wanted to do some laps on the new rear Dunlop, which seemed to work pretty well. I improved my time this afternoon and I’m confident I can make another step tomorrow ahead of qualifying.”

Livio Loi #11: 25th – 2’11.057
“The feeling with the bike is just not good at the moment. We made some changes to the bike after Indianapolis, but they don’t seem to have worked. Going into the corners the bike just wants to run wide, it’s like I have no control of the front at all, so it’s difficult to make the lap times. Tomorrow we will go back to a set-up closer to that which we used at Indianapolis and, hopefully, this will give me a better feeling and more confidence with the bike.”

Jules Danilo #95: 31st – 2’11.961
“I’m happy to be back on the Kalex-KTM and the feeling with the bike was good today. Now I can push again, without feeling like I’m riding over the limit all the time. This morning was a bit difficult, as I don’t really know the track yet, and I wasn’t carrying enough speed when I was lapping on my own. This afternoon was a lot better, as I had the visual references I needed to improve my lap time, even when on my own. Overall I’m happy about today, but if I can improve by another second tomorrow then I’ll be even happier.”