#AustrianGP Moto3 FP1: Joan Mir and the others…

If, with a very cloudy sky and a temperature of 18°, it feels more like autumn than summer in the middle of the Austrian mountains, the Red Bull Ring track is nevertheless practically dry when the Moto3 riders take it for this first session in Styria.

In the championship, we find the same situation as the classification of the last Grand Prix of the Czech Republic: Joan mir before Roman Fenati, with 42 points ahead. A Joan mir who was also last year's winner and therefore appears to be the big favorite.

Conversely, we note the presence of the wildcard Maximilian Kofler (KTM) which usually rides in the Italian championship.

Another Wildcard, the Mexican Martinez-Abrego from the Motomex team.

Without going back to the signature of Enea Bastianini at Leopard in 2018, the news in the category has recently been marked by the probable transfer of Andrea Migno from Team Sky VR46 to Team Aspar, more than likely to make room for Dennis Foggia the new rising star of the structure of Valentino Rossi.

Here are the available references, all based on last year which marked Spielberg's return:

#AustrianGP Moto3	2016	2017
FP1	1'37.902 Brad Binder	1'37.549 Joan Mir
FP2	1'37.070 Brad Binder
FP3	1'36.548 Brad Binder
Qualification	1'36.228 Joan Mir
Warm up	1'37.203 Enea Bastianini
Course	Mir, Binder, Bastianini (see here)
All time lap record	1'36.228 Mir 2016

Despite patches of humidity due to the night's rain, all the drivers started on slicks.

From the first minutes, Joan mir shows that he is still as comfortable on this track and takes command in 1'38.722, 6/10 ahead of the rest of the competition.

At mid-session, the resistance is led by Arbolino, Norrodin, Bastianini, Mc Phee, Bulega, Rodrigo, Bendsneider, Guevara, Suzuki and Oettl.

Jules Danilo then appears in 15th position.

At the start of the final rush, Joan mir still leads the way (in 1'38.411) but the gap with the rest of the field has been reduced to 3/10th on Niccolo Bulega.
Marcos Ramirez drops us to 2/10 while Jules Danilo jumped to provisional fifth position.

Joan mir, on the attack, performs a straight move without consequence while, conversely, the guest Max Kofler inaugurates the list of weekend drops.

Will Bendsneyder took the opportunity to seize command in 1'38.273. Things don't stop there and, five minutes from the checkered flag, Enea Bastianini climbs to the top of the provisional ranking in 1'38.220.

Immediate reaction of Joan mir who breaks the 1'38 mark in 1'37.976 but his time is withdrawn for having exceeded the limits of the track. However, it will take more to stem the efforts of the Spanish driver since he, the next lap, puts a point on the table and records a 1'37.549 faster than last year, ahead of Aron Canet.

Great performance from Jules Danilo who ultimately ranks sixth.

#AustrianGP FP1 Ranking:

01- Joan Mir – Leopard Racing – Honda NSF250RW – 1’37.549
02- Aron Canet – Estrella Galicia 0,0 – Honda NSF250RW – + 0.354
03- Marcos Ramirez – Platinum Bay Real Estate – KTM RC 250 GP – + 0.464
04- Enea Bastianini – Estrella Galicia 0,0 – Honda NSF250RW – + 0.671
05- Bo Bendsneyder – Red Bull KTM Ajo – KTM RC 250 GP – + 0.724
06- Jules Danilo – Marinelli Rivacold Snipers – Honda NSF250RW – + 0.765
07- John McPhee – British Talent Team – Honda NSF250RW – + 0.847
08- Fabio Di Giannantonio – Del Conca Gresini Moto3 – Honda NSF250RW – + 0.849
09- Nicolò Bulega – Sky Racing Team VR46 – KTM RC 250 GP – + 0.924
10- Gabriel Rodrigo – RBA BOÉ Racing Team – KTM RC 250 GP – + 0.937
11- Livio Loi – Leopard Racing – Honda NSF250RW – + 0.954
12- Marco Bezzecchi – CIP – Mahindra MGP3O – + 1.099
13- Tony Arbolino – Sic 58 Squadra Corse – Honda NSF250RW – + 1.176
14- Jorge Martin – Del Conca Gresini Moto3 – Honda NSF250RW – +1.177
15- Nakarin Atiratphuvapat – Honda Team Asia – Honda NSF250RW – + 1.209
16- Albert Arenas – Aspar Mahindra Moto3 – Mahindra MGP3O – + 1.254
17- Niccolò Antonelli – Red Bull KTM Ajo – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1.305
18- Romano Fenati – Marinelli Rivacold Snipers – Honda NSF250RW – +1.330
19- Jakub Kornfeil – Peugeot MC SaxoPrint – Peugeot GP3-17 – + 1.359
20- Adam Norrodin – SIC Racing Team – Honda NSF250RW – +1.365
21- Philipp Öttl – Südmetall Schedl GP Racing – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1.464
22- Ayumu Sasaki – SIC Racing Team – Honda NSF250RW – + 1.492
23- Tatsuki Suzuki – Sic 58 Squadra Corse – Honda NSF250RW – + 1.518
24- Jaume Masia – Platinum Bay Real Estate – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1.635
25- Juanfran Guevara – RBA BOÉ Racing Team – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1.719
26- Kaito Toba – Honda Team Asia – Honda NSF250RW – + 2.046
27- Andrea Migno – Sky Racing Team VR46 – KTM RC 250 GP – + 2.092
28- Manuel Pagliani – CIP – Mahindra MGP3O – + 2.094
29- Lorenzo Dalla Porta – Aspar Mahindra Moto3 – Mahindra MGP3O – + 2.336
30- Maria Herrera – AGR Team – KTM RC 250 GP – + 2.423
31- Gabriel Martinez – MotoMex Team Moto3 – KTM RC 250 GP – + 3.199
32- Patrik Pulkkinen – Peugeot MC SaxoPrint – Peugeot GP3-17 – + 3.274
33- Maximilian Kofler – Motorsport Kofler EU – KTM RC 250 GP – + 3.779

 

 

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