Moto3 Silverstone Warm Up: Romano Fenati dominates head and shoulders

Dominant since the start of the weekend, Romano Fenati (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team, #55) did not tremble at the end of the session, on his only timed lap, to take pole position on the legendary Silverstone track. And yet, the Italian driver's path to pole was not as smooth as expected. Given his speed throughout the weekend, the Italian left pit lane with a handful of competitors on his tail and spent a few laps trying to separate himself from them. Fenati had yet to set a time with a minute remaining in the session and was not helped by yellow flags, but a final flying lap proved enough to secure him pole position. Gabriel Rodrigo (Honda, Team Gresini Moto3, #2) had to go through Q1 and held first place in Q2 for much of the session, but lost pole by four hundredths of a second. Riccardo Rossi (KTM, BOE Owlride, #54) also impressed by bagging third place and a front row start at Silverstone.

The Italians Andrea Migno (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team, #16) and Niccolo Antonelli (KTM, Reale Avintia, #23) will occupy the second row, the second returning from an injury, and will be accompanied by another driver who competed in Q1, Filip Salac (KTM, CarXpert PruestlGP, #12). We will find on the third line Jeremy Alcove (Honda, Team Gresini Moto3, #52), Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7) and Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53). The top 10 of these qualifications is completed by Jaume Masià (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5), who was more than a second slower than the pole sitter and opened the fourth row in front of the rookie Izan Guevara (GasGas, Gaviota Aspar Team, #28) and Stefano Nepa (KTM, BOE Owlride, #82).

The French pilot Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) tried to follow Romano Fenati (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team, #55) in order to take the lead from the best driver of the weekend. Unfortunately, his stubbornness ended with a fall before he could even begin his timed lap and he will have to start 18th tomorrow.

Q1 was also quite entertaining and the two big surprises came from the title contenders: second in the general classification Sergio Garcia (GasGas, Aspar Team Moto3, #11) suffered a crash at turn 3 and will have to settle for 24th place on the starting grid tomorrow. His rival, Peter Acosta (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #37), in difficulty throughout the weekend, will start from 22nd position.

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

Silverstone Moto3™	2019	2021
FP1	2'12.008 Tony Arbolino	2'12.196 Romano Fenati
FP2	2'12.224 Albert Arenas	2'11.334 Romano Fenati
FP3	2'11.844 Tony Arbolino	2'10.619 Romano Fenati
Q1	2'12.647 Kaito Toba	2'11.713 Gabriel Rodrigo
Q2	2'11.631 Tony Arbolino	2'11.325 Romano Fenati
Warm Up	2'12.399 Arón Canet	2'11.779 Romano Fenati
Course	Ramirez, Arbolino, Dalla Porta
All time lap record	2'11.631 Tony Arbolino (2019)	2'10.619 Romano Fenati

At the start of the morning, the air temperature was 13°C and that of the track 16°C.

With these relatively cool temperatures, you will have to be careful not to be surprised. The drivers are taking their time before setting off this Sunday on the Silverstone track. In fact, we had to wait almost 3 minutes after the presentation of the green flag for around ten pilots to finally take off, and this motivated the rest of the troops to take to the track.

After only one reconnaissance lap, part of the peloton passes through the pit lane to immediately return to the track; it's an original start to the session, but not entirely surprising given the relatively cool track conditions. The first time of the morning is to the credit of Kaito Toba (KTM, CIP-Green Power, #27), in 2'14.908.

After the majority of drivers have completed a timed lap, it is Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) who takes control in 2'13.538, ahead Adrian Fernández (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team, #31) and Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20).

Yukii Kuni (Honda, Honda Team Asia, #92) is credited with a Long Lap penalty for irresponsible driving during Q1 yesterday.

From his first timed lap, Roman Fenati (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team, #55) sets a 2'12.795, and relegates the current second, Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7), 0.658s behind him. The poleman, the only one to ride under 2'13, improved further with a 2'12.309 on the next lap, again riding alone.

Behind, Peter Acosta (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #37) is 7th, 1s behind the leader, with 5min remaining on the track. He seems to have found a solution to have a good rhythm. His main rival, Sergio Garcia (GasGas, Aspar Team Moto3, #11), remains stuck in 22nd place.

Roman Fenati (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team, #55) improves again, in 2'11.779, and relegates the current second, Izan Guevara (GasGas, Gaviota Aspar Team, #28), at 1.136s, no less! 2 minutes from the end of the session, Peter Acosta (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #37) moved into 2nd in the session, still 0.843s behind the leader.

At the end of these 20 minutes of Warm Up, Romano Fenati (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team, #55) remains dominant, ahead Kaito Toba (KTM, CIP-Green Power, #27) and Peter Acosta (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #37), who seems to have found a solution after complicated qualifying.

Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) finished the session in 24th place.

Moto3 British Grand Prix Warm-Up Results:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com