Moto3 Austin Warm-Up: John McPhee is off to a good start!

Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7) thought he would take the very first pole of his career this Saturday. The Italian seemed strong throughout the session and started the last run on provisional pole but that was without counting on a final lap in 2'15.986 from Jaume Masià (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5), who stole the show for a little less than two tenths. The Valencian put out a remarkable final lap to conclude this session in the lead. The Spaniard secured the long-awaited pole position almost two tenths of a second behind Foggia, who in turn won a close battle with Jeremy Alcoba (Honda, Team Gresini Moto3, #52) who qualified just three thousandths behind second of the Italian.

Izan Guevara (GasGas, Gaviota Aspar Team, #28) also had a good qualifying session, since he will start from the second row, alongside the rookie Xavier Artigas (Honda, Leopard Racing, #43), and the most experienced Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #24). Filip Salac (KTM, CarXpert PruestlGP, #12), seventh, was the last rider to clock within half a second of pole and will share the third row with Andrea Migno (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team, #16) and Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53), both unhappy with their qualifications.

After a tricky FP3 session and a quick Q1, John McPhee (Honda, Petronas Sprinta Racing, #17) managed to climb into the top 10, while Roman Fenati (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team, #55) was unable to reproduce the good qualifying of recent times and will have to settle for 11th position on the grid. Stefano Nepa (KTM, BOE Owlride, #82) completes the fourth row.

The rookie Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) impressed in Q1 by finishing top of the timesheets after crashing on the opening lap, but was unable to improve in Q2 and had to settle for 16th position on the grid, he will be on the sixth row alongside two other survivors of Q1, Darryn binder (KTM, Petronas Sprinta Racing, #40) and Alberto Surra (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team, #67).

Who will be in the best shape this morning during this Warm-Up session? United States Grand Prix ? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

Moto3 ™	2019	2021
FP1	2'18.536 Romano Fenati	2'32.152 Niccolo Antonelli
FP2	2'16.679 Romano Fenati	2'17.280 Filip Salac
FP3	Session canceled due to storm	2'16.357 Jaume Masia
Q1	2'33.777 Darryn Binder	2'17.698 Lorenzo Fellon
Q2	2'31.346 Niccoló Antonelli	2'15.986 Jaume Masia
Warm up	2'18.262 Romano Fenati	2'17.068 John McPhee
Course	Canet, Masia, Migno
All time lap record	2'14.644 Arón Canet 2017	2'15.986 Jaume Masia

On this Sunday morning, the air temperature was 22°C and the track temperature was 27°C.

The drivers take their time before getting into action: when the green flag is presented, few of them are wearing helmets, they are still at the back of their boxes chatting with their technical teams. For those who are on their machines, they are patiently waiting for a good wheel. Stefano Nepa (KTM, BOE Owlride, #82) and Yukii Kuni (Honda, Honda Team Asia, #92) are the first riders to enter action followed by John mcphee (Honda, Petronas Sprinta Racing, #17) and Andrea Migno (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team, #16), who decide after 2 minutes have already passed.

The session is finally launched after a 3min30 wait, the drivers are in no hurry to join the bumps of the Texan circuit, except for Niccolo Antonelli (KTM, Reale Avintia, #23) who remains quietly in his stand.

The first times finally appear, and it's Izan Guevara (GasGas, Gaviota Aspar Team, #28) who opens the ball, in 2'18.988, ahead Roman Fenati (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team, #55) and Andi Farid Izdihar (Honda, Honda Team Asia, #19). Jaume Masià (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) gets a nice heat at turn 14 but stays on his wheels, a great rodeo session in Texas!

We are already halfway through the session, and the times are changing quickly: Xavier Artigas (Honda, Leopard Racing, #43) took back the lead in 2'17.593 ahead of his teammate Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7) and Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5).

5 minutes from the end of this warm-up session, Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #24) moved back to the top of the timesheet, in 2'17.211, followed by Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7) who regained the advantage over his teammate, Xavier Artigas (Honda, Leopard Racing, #43).

Peter Acosta (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #37) also had a great rodeo session.

At the end of this Warm-Up session, John McPhee (Honda, Petronas Sprinta Racing, #17) is in the best shape, in 2'17.068, ahead Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) and Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #24).

Peter Acosta (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #37) is 6th this morning, Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) ranks 22nd.

Ranking of the Moto3 Grand Prix of the Americas Warm-Up session:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com