Moto3 Qatar 1 FP3: Sergio Garcia puts GasGas in the spotlight

Yesterday afternoon, as night fell on Losail during FP3, things quickly accelerated for the riders in the Moto3 category, who fought for those precious places in the top 14, synonymous with qualifying for Q2. The spotlights showed Kaito Toba (KTM, CIP-Green Power, #27) the way to the top of the rankings, shortly before the checkered flag waves. The CIP team driver finished the evening four hundredths of a second ahead Jaume Masià (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5). Red Bull KTM Ajo riders worked together, but in the end only Masia managed to stay in the top ten, the FP1 leader Pedro Acosta (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #37) finishing in 14th position.

gabriel rodrigo (Honda, Team Gresini Moto3, #2) started the session under the spotlight and managed to maintain his position in the top 3, just six hundredths of a second from first place and with increasingly narrow gaps behind him. Sergio Garcia (GasGas, Aspar Team Moto3, #11) took fourth place, while Jason dupasquier (KTM, CarXpert PruestlGP, #50) and Niccolo Antonelli (KTM, Reale Avintia, #23) finished just six thousandths of a second behind the Spaniard.

Jeremy Alcove (Honda, Team Gresini Moto3, #52) in seventh position posted a time less than two tenths behind the leader, closely followed by John mcphee (Honda, Petronas Sprinta Racing, #17) and Andrea Migno (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team, #16) and with a Maximilian Kofler (KTM, CIP-Green Power, #73) quite impressive completing the top ten, less than three tenths of his teammate's best time. The remaining places in this combined top 14 go to Carlos Tatay (KTM, Reale Avintia Moto3, #99), Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7), Ayumu Sasaki (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #71) and the rookie Peter Acosta (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #37).

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

Qatar 1 Moto3™	2020	2021
FP1	2'05.407 Sergio Garcia	2'05.809 Pedro Acosta
FP2	2'04.577 Raul Fernandez	2'04.839 Kaito Toba
FP3	2'05.465 Raul Fernandez	2'05.064 Sergio Garcia
Q1	2'05.254 Gabriel Rodrigo
Q2	2'04.815 Tatsuki Suzuki
Warm Up	2'05.701 Raul Fernandez
Course	Arenas, McPhee, Ogura
All time lap record	2'04.561 Aron Canet 2019

On this Saturday midday, under the Qatari sun, the air temperature was 38°C and that of the track 54°C, complicated conditions for both the drivers and the machines. The wind is relatively calm today, hoping that it will be like this tomorrow so as not to disrupt the races.

Jeremy Alcove (Honda, Team Gresini Moto3, #52) pays tribute to Fausto Gresini with his superb helmet.

The objective of the third session this morning is to climb among the 14 fastest in free practice to go directly to Q2. With these very high temperatures, and not very representative of racing conditions, the drivers are in no hurry to reach the track. The motorcycles are slowly heating up, and the riders are trying to cool off in front of their fans!

Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) and gabriel rodrigo (Honda, Team Gresini Moto3, #2) are the first to enter action, followed by the rest of the pack of riders in the Moto3 category.

This morning, the drivers are working on the durability of the tires for the race. Even if the racing conditions will be cooler, this is very interesting to prepare for the race.

Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) sets the first time, in 2'08.010. After the first round, it's Andrea Migno (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team, #16) who is the fastest in 2'07.234 while at the same time, his teammate Filip Salac (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team, #12) crashes at turn 7.

Niccolo Antonelli (KTM, Reale Avintia, #23) also suffered a minor fall at the same corner. Yesterday, in MotoGP, the riders fell at turn 4.

Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #24) achieves a 2'07.083 after 15 minutes of session. He is followed in the morning ranking by Andrea Migno (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team, #16) and Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5).

Kaito Toba (KTM, CIP-Green Power, #27) saw his time canceled for having exceeded the limits of the track. Too bad for him, he would have been ranked third in the morning. However, his time yesterday guarantees his place in Q2, he is riding with less pressure this morning.

The rookies Xavier Artigas (Honda, Leopard Racing, #43) and Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) are riding together this morning.

Halfway through the session, almost all the drivers returned to the boxes. Alone Izan Guevara (GasGas, Gaviota Aspar Team, #28) is on the track and takes the opportunity to improve his time, but also take the lead in the standings this morning, with a lap in 2'06.243. He thus advances Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #24) and John mcphee (Honda, Petronas Sprinta Racing, #17).

Izan Guevara (GasGas, Gaviota Aspar Team, #28) is the first driver to go below 2'06, with a lap in 2'05.721. Unfortunately, this is not yet enough to enter the cumulative top14, synonymous with qualifying for Q2, even if he relegates his first pursuer in FP3 to more than a second.

10 minutes from the checkered flag, the first 3 of the session are not qualified for Q2. It is Izan Guevara (GasGas, Gaviota Aspar Team, #28), only driver below 2'06 this morning, as well as Ryusei Yamanaka (KTM, CarXpert PruestlGP, #6) and Xavier Artigas (Honda, Leopard Racing, #43).

The last run will undoubtedly be decisive, also for Darryn binder (KTM, Petronas Sprinta Racing, #40), which should for the moment go through Q1.

Objective of the last run: go below the time achieved by Peter Acosta (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #37) yesterday, 14th in the combined standings. Ayumu Sasaki (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #71), 13th in the combined standings is also in the hot seat.

Finally, Sergio Garcia (GasGas, Aspar Team Moto3, #11) is the fastest, in 2'05.064. The GasGas are in good shape this weekend!

Darryn binder (KTM, Petronas Sprinta Racing, #40) improves his time but remains 15th in the cumulative ranking: he will have to go through Q1 this afternoon.

FP3 ranking of the Qatar Moto3 Grand Prix:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com