Moto3 Misano 2 FP3: Celestino Vietti explodes the lap record!

Jaume Masia (Honda, Leopard Racing) established a new lap record in the last minutes of the FP2 session, this Friday afternoon. The Valencian made short work of the previous benchmark, owned by Jorge Martín since 2018, with this lap in 1'41.663. He thus concludes this first day of free testing at the top of the hierarchy.

The representative of the Leopard Racing team takes the lead in the combined standings, three tenths ahead Raúl Fernández (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo), who failed to improve his morning time. He was the leader at mid-session, but crashed at turn 5 and dropped to fifth place in the session. His good result in the morning saved his day.

Celestine Vietti (KTM, Sky Racing Team VR46) also improved his time and moved up to third place in the cumulative standings. But it's Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse) who made impressive progress, coming in just behind the Italian, although he was only 24th during FP1.

Andrea Migno (KTM, Sky Racing Team VR46) remains in a solid fifth position, although he also improved his time in this second session. Jeremy Alcove (Honda, Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) drops to sixth position. Filip Salac (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team) remains seventh. Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing), gabriel rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) and Stefano Nepa (KTM, Gaviota Aspar Team Moto3) complete the provisional top 10.

What will be the verdict of this FP3? Before answering this question, here is the table that refreshes our memory…

Misano-2 Moto3™	2020-1	2020-2
FP1	1'42.501 Raul Fernandez	1'41.962 Raul Fernandez
FP2	1'42.783 Tatsuki Suzuki	1'41.663 Jaume Masia
FP3	1'42.415 John McPhee	1'41.155 Celestino Vietti
Q1	1'42.511 Tony Arbolino
Q2	1'42.403 Ai Ogura
Warm Up	1'41.899 Raul Fernandez
Course	McPhee, Ogura, Suzuki
All time lap record	1'41.823 Jorge Martin 2018	1'41.155 Celestino Vietti

 

On this Saturday morning, under the Italian sun, the air temperature was 22°C and that of the track 21°C.

We recall that, in the long list of penalties handed out at the end of the San Marino Grand Prix, Tony Arbolino, Denis Foggia, Jaume Masia, Davide Pizzoli et Ryusei Yamanaka will be suspended during the last 15 minutes of FP3, following irresponsible behavior during FP3 last weekend. It is generally at these moments that the times fall, the ranking risks being impacted!

Also, the drivers quickly take action to be as productive as possible, from the start of the session. Celestine Vietti (KTM, Sky Racing Team VR46) quickly took control in 1'42.708. James Masia (Honda, Leopard Racing) once again shows that he is in very good shape this weekend after breaking the lap record yesterday afternoon, achieving exactly the same time as the Italian driver!

The objective of the third session this morning is to climb among the 14 fastest in free practice to go directly to Q2.

After barely 10 minutes on the track, gabriel rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) loses the front in turn 3. A minor fall for the Spanish rider, who was in full attack. He widened slightly, had to angle a little more to find his trajectory and found himself on the ground.

Ai Ogura (Honda, Honda Team Asia), after a very good first weekend on the Misano track, is still very well placed on the timing screens. After the first run of 1 minutes, he is 15rd, behind gabriel rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) and Tony Arbolino (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team), the latter being penalized in the last 15 minutes of the session.

All the drivers return to the track for a second run, 2 minutes from the checkered flag. All except one, Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3), who will need 5 minutes more in the pits for his bike to be inspected by his mechanics, following his fall.

Tony Arbolino (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team), whose session was cut from the last 15 minutes, produced a superb lap before falling without seriousness. He returned to the track to finish 9th, but this lap will not be counted, given that there is less than 15 minutes left when he crosses the finish line. He will probably have to go through Q1 this afternoon.

At the same time, Roman Fenati (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) achieves a 1'41.661. The record of James Masia (Honda, Leopard Racing) is beaten by 2 thousandths, he will not have lasted long!

gabriel rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3), undoubtedly his pressure, drops again 13 minutes from the end of the session, at turn 15. This is also the moment that the drivers choose to return to the pits and prepare for the last run, which will determine certainly qualified in Q2.

Ayumu Sasaki (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3) suffered a loss from the rear at turn 3, a long slide. An impressive fall, at high speed, but without injury. This fall somewhat obscures the superb time of Celestino Vietti (KTM, Sky Racing Team VR46), who in turn beat the lap record this morning with a 1'41.155, half a second faster than the record achieved by James Masia (Honda, Leopard Racing) yesterday in FP2.

The last 2 minutes are exciting, with all the drivers looking to achieve crazy times to qualify for Q2!

Therefore, Celestine Vietti (KTM, Sky Racing Team VR46) leads the way, ahead Ai Ogura (Honda, Honda Team Asia) and Roman Fenati (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team).

Albert Arenas (KTM, Aspar Team Gaviota) climbs into the top 14 and qualifies directly for Q2.

John mcphee (Honda, Petronas Sprinta Racing), who was leader of FP3 on the same track last week, is the first eliminated from Q2 and will have to go through Q1.

FP3 classification of the Emilia Romagna Moto3 Grand Prix:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com