2022 Le Mans Moto2 FP3 Result: Acosta Back To Breaking Records

Given the pace shown by the intermediate class on Friday, it will come as no surprise that the lap record fell once again but perhaps the bigger surprise was that it was Pedro Acosta who snatched the new one, the rookie navigating around some late yellow flags to post the first valid 1:35 time around Le Mans on a Moto2 machine. The Spaniard picked up top spot in the final couple of minutes of the session by demoting teammate Augusto Fernandez by a tenth of a second. Somkiat Chantra ended his morning with a tumble at turn nine but his benchmark from Friday kept him safely inside the top three, aided by a late lap cancellation for Sam Lowes, who drops to fourth. Albert Arenas completed the top five, just under four tenths slower than the leader.

Ai Ogura was one of the early improvers and the Japanese rider failed to go any quicker in the later stages but was quick enough for sixth, ahead of a still-recovering Aron Canet. Tony Arbolino in eighth was the final rider to post a time within half a second of Acosta, while Cameron Beaubier held onto ninth despite a late crash at the final corner. Alonso Lopez impressed on his unexpected return to Moto2 by rounding out the top 10 and heading straight to Q2, less than seven tenths behind the leader.

Marcos Ramirez and Jake Dixon joined the Q2 line-up late on, despite an earlier tumble for the British rider, while Marcel Schrotter and Stefano Manzi relied on their Friday lap times to maintain a top 14 placement. Celestino Vietti and Fermin Aldeguer struggled to progress throughout the session and ended practice down in 16th and 19th positions overall, although within a second of top spot. They will be joined in Q1 by the likes of Gabriel Rodrigo and Joe Roberts - both riders joining the crash list in FP3 – as well as Barry Baltus, who was unlucky to miss out by only five hundredths of a second.

Results: