#AragonGP Moto3 FP3: Jorge Martin almost a second ahead

Martin hit hard on the very last lap of the third free practice session by setting the best time in 1'57.833, pushing back his opponents led by John McPhee to 0.928, ahead of Joan Mir, Nicolo Bulega, Ayumu Sasaki, Denni Foggia and Marcos Ramirez. 

#AragonGP Moto3	2016	2017
FP1	1'59.676 Jorge Navarro	1'59.114 Aron Canet
FP2	1'58.998 Brad Binder	1'59.586 Joan Mir
FP3	1'58.770 Fabio Quartararo	1'57.833 Jorge Martin
Qualification	1'58.293 Enea Bastianini
Warm Up	1'59.668 Fabio Di Giannantonio
Course	Navarro, Binder, Bastianini (see here)
All time lap record	1'57.755 Bastianini 2015

While on Friday Moto3 was the only category to ride in the dry, the best time of this first day was to the credit of Aron Canet in 1'59.114. This Saturday morning, the weather was fine despite a little fog, the air temperature was 15° and the ground temperature was 16°.

Jules Danilo took command at the start of the session with a time of 2'02.7. Marco Ramirez was the first to go under two minutes this Saturday, in 1'59.910. He preceded Aron Canet by 27 and Marco Bezzecchi (CIP) by 0.2 0.4 minutes from the checkered flag. John McPhee, fourth at 0.5, suffered less from his cold than the day before.

Aron Canet took the lead in 1'59.861, before Jorge Martin took first position from him in 1'59.846. Jules Danilo was eighteenth at 1.4. Romano Fenati was twenty-first with a technical problem, having only been able to complete two laps. Martin strengthened his first position in 1'59.483. We were 0.7 off the lap record, which was logical because the circuit had been swept away twice by heavy downpours which had removed all rubber deposits.

Many pilots carried out long duration runs. Juanfran Guevara improved to 1'59.350, marking the return of RBA (with his teammate Gabriel Rodrigo) to the front. Behind Guevara and Martin, Dennis Foggia was a good third, faster than his weekend teammates Nicolo Bulega and Andrea Migno.

Bulega, precisely, reacted and took the best performance in 1'58.965. We were very close to the lap record. Philipp Oettl fell sharply in turn 16. He got up, but seemed to be suffering from his left wrist.

Nicolo Bulega preceded Juanfran Guevara, Enea Bastianini, Jorge Martin, Dennis Foggia, Romano Fenati and Aron Canet.

Juan Mir emerged in the lead 5 minutes from the end in 1'58.860, 0.1 ahead of Bulega and 0.3 ahead of Guevara. Marco Bezzecchi fell without seriousness in turn 9. He was then thirteenth, and Jules Danilo eighteenth. Aron Canet fell heavily in turn 2 and was evacuated (conscious) on a stretcher.

John McPhee took first position 2 minutes from the end in 1'58.761, 0.09 ahead of Joan Mir and 0.2 ahead of Nicolo Bulega. Fenati broke down on the circuit in turn 9.

On the very last lap, Jorge Martin on new tires set an excellent time of 1'57.833, the equivalent of Enea Bastianini's pole position time two years ago. Martin preceded John McPhee, Joan Mir, Nicolo Bulega, Ayumu Sasaki, Denni Foggia and Marcos Ramirez. Jules Danilo finished twenty-fifth.

Results of the third free practice session:

1- Jorge Martin – Del Conca Gresini Moto3 – Honda NSF250RW – 1’57.833
2- John McPhee – British Talent Team – Honda NSF250RW – + 0.928
3- Joan Mir – Leopard Racing – Honda NSF250RW – +1.027
4- Nicolò Bulega – Sky Racing Team VR46 – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1.132
5- Ayumu Sasaki – SIC Racing Team – Honda NSF250RW – + 1.156
6- Dennis Foggia – Sky Junior Team VR46 Academy – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1.279
7- Marcos Ramirez – Platinum Bay Real Estate – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1.290
8- Juanfran Guevara – RBA BOÉ Racing Team – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1.341
9- Fabio Di Giannantonio – Del Conca Gresini Moto3 – Honda NSF250RW – + 1.389
10- Enea Bastianini – Estrella Galicia 0,0 – Honda NSF250RW – + 1.391
11- Romano Fenati – Marinelli Rivacold Snipers – Honda NSF250RW – +1.398
12- Gabriel Rodrigo – RBA BOÉ Racing Team – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1.419
13- Bo Bendsneyder – Red Bull KTM Ajo – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1.668
14- Manuel Pagliani – CIP – Mahindra MGP3O – + 1.745
15- Nakarin Atiratphuvapat – Honda Team Asia – Honda NSF250RW – + 1.945
16- Aron Canet – Estrella Galicia 0,0 – Honda NSF250RW – + 2.028
17- Niccolò Antonelli – Red Bull KTM Ajo – KTM RC 250 GP – + 2.030
18- Jaume Masia – Cuna de Campeones – KTM RC 250 GP – + 2.170
19- Tatsuki Suzuki – Sic 58 Squadra Corse – Honda NSF250RW – + 2.236
20- Lorenzo Dalla Porta – Aspar Mahindra Moto3 – Mahindra MGP3O – + 2.256
21- Marco Bezzecchi – CIP – Mahindra MGP3O – + 2.288
22- Andrea Migno – Sky Racing Team VR46 – KTM RC 250 GP – + 2.301
23- Aaron Polanco – Leopard Racing – Honda NSF250RW – +2.432
24- Adam Norrodin – SIC Racing Team – Honda NSF250RW – +2.459
25- Jules Danilo – Marinelli Rivacold Snipers – Honda NSF250RW – + 2.479
26- Jakub Kornfeil – Peugeot MC SaxoPrint – Peugeot GP3-17 – + 2.701
27- Darryn Binder – Platinum Bay Real Estate – KTM RC 250 GP – + 3.081
28- Philipp Öttl – Südmetall Schedl GP Racing – KTM RC 250 GP – + 3.230
29- Patrik Pulkkinen – Peugeot MC SaxoPrint – Peugeot GP3-17 – + 3.355
30- Kaito Toba – Honda Team Asia – Honda NSF250RW – + 3.434
31- Tony Arbolino – Sic 58 Squadra Corse – Honda NSF250RW – + 3.601
32- Maria Herrera – AGR Team – KTM RC 250 GP – + 3.910
33- Albert Arenas – Aspar Mahindra Moto3 – Mahindra MGP3O – + 4.074

Reference times:

Test record: 1'57.755 by Enea Bastianini (Honda Gresini Racing) in 2015

Lap record: 1'58.726 by Niccolo Antonelli (Honda Ongetta-Rivacold) in 2015

Best top speed: 241,2 km/h for Livio Loi (Honda RW Racing) in 2015

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

1 Joan MIR-Honda 246 points

2 Romano FENATI-Honda 185

3 Aron CANET-Honda 162

4 Jorge MARTIN-Honda 121

5 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO-Honda 117

6 Andrea MIGNO-KTM 98

7 John MCPHEE-Honda 96

8 Marcos RAMIREZ-KTM 96

9 Enea BASTIANINI-Honda 87

10 Philipp OETTL-KTM 84

…18 Jules DANILO-Honda 29