Submitted by Zara Daniela on
There was no trace of cloud to worry the paddock on Saturday morning and the improved track conditions saw the all time lap record (well, one year old record) fall to the hands of rookie Raul Fernandez at the halfway point of FP3. The Spaniard might have been the first to attack the benchmark but he didn’t get to keep it as times kept tumbling throughout the shootout for the top 14 and it was compatriot Aron Canet who stole the headlines in the end.
The championship leader led the way by one tenth of a second from Niccolo Antonelli and that was the biggest gap between any two riders within the top 22, showing once again how tight the field is in Moto3. Gabriel Rodrigo joined the top three, with Fernandez settling for fourth and Makar Yurchenko an impressive fifth. Jaume Masia had a more encouraging practice session for a change, up to sixth and only three tenths down on the leader. Rookie Sergio Garcia showed the way to teammate and FP1 leader Alonso Lopez, while compatriot Marcos Ramirez and his teammate Lorenzo Dalla Porta completed the top ten.
The final four men to gain a direct Q2 spot were Mugello victor Tony Arbolino, outstanding wildcard Carlos Tatay, Darryn Binder and John McPhee. Which means that things are about to get a bit more complicated for the likes of Romano Fenati, Jakub Kornfeil or Tatsuki Suzuki – whose early crash at turn 14 left him with only a handful of laps on the board – despite the trio being within eighth tenths of the leader.
Results:
| Pos. | Num. | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap 1st | Prev. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Aron CANET | KTM | 1'48.433 | ||
| 2 | 23 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | Honda | 1'48.540 | 0.107 | 0.107 |
| 3 | 19 | Gabriel RODRIGO | Honda | 1'48.606 | 0.173 | 0.066 |
| 4 | 25 | Raul FERNANDEZ | KTM | 1'48.630 | 0.197 | 0.024 |
| 5 | 76 | Makar YURCHENKO | KTM | 1'48.670 | 0.237 | 0.040 |
| 6 | 5 | Jaume MASIA | KTM | 1'48.748 | 0.315 | 0.078 |
| 7 | 11 | Sergio GARCIA | Honda | 1'48.822 | 0.389 | 0.074 |
| 8 | 21 | Alonso LOPEZ | Honda | 1'48.837 | 0.404 | 0.015 |
| 9 | 42 | Marcos RAMIREZ | Honda | 1'48.891 | 0.458 | 0.054 |
| 10 | 48 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | Honda | 1'48.894 | 0.461 | 0.003 |
| 11 | 14 | Tony ARBOLINO | Honda | 1'48.900 | 0.467 | 0.006 |
| 12 | 99 | Carlos TATAY | KTM | 1'48.944 | 0.511 | 0.044 |
| 13 | 40 | Darryn BINDER | KTM | 1'48.956 | 0.523 | 0.012 |
| 14 | 17 | John MCPHEE | Honda | 1'48.975 | 0.542 | 0.019 |
| 15 | 75 | Albert ARENAS | KTM | 1'49.000 | 0.567 | 0.025 |
| 16 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | KTM | 1'49.036 | 0.603 | 0.036 |
| 17 | 22 | Kazuki MASAKI | KTM | 1'49.065 | 0.632 | 0.029 |
| 18 | 55 | Romano FENATI | Honda | 1'49.157 | 0.724 | 0.092 |
| 19 | 24 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | Honda | 1'49.251 | 0.818 | 0.094 |
| 20 | 77 | Vicente PEREZ | KTM | 1'49.277 | 0.844 | 0.026 |
| 21 | 79 | Ai OGURA | Honda | 1'49.316 | 0.883 | 0.039 |
| 22 | 61 | Can ONCU | KTM | 1'49.392 | 0.959 | 0.076 |
| 23 | 71 | Ayumu SASAKI | Honda | 1'49.607 | 1.174 | 0.215 |
| 24 | 6 | Ryusei YAMANAKA | Honda | 1'49.665 | 1.232 | 0.058 |
| 25 | 7 | Dennis FOGGIA | KTM | 1'49.703 | 1.270 | 0.038 |
| 26 | 13 | Celestino VIETTI | KTM | 1'49.784 | 1.351 | 0.081 |
| 27 | 69 | Tom BOOTH-AMOS | KTM | 1'50.053 | 1.620 | 0.269 |
| 28 | 16 | Andrea MIGNO | KTM | 1'50.227 | 1.794 | 0.174 |
| 29 | 54 | Riccardo ROSSI | Honda | 1'50.316 | 1.883 | 0.089 |
| 30 | 27 | Kaito TOBA | Honda | 1'50.517 | 2.084 | 0.201 |
| 31 | 12 | Filip SALAC | KTM | 1'51.694 | 3.261 | 1.177 |
