Phillip Island Moto2 FP3: Zarco best strategist at Australian roulette

FP2 having been canceled here due to the weather conditions, this FP3 lasts an hour, or 15 minutes longer than usual.

As we just saw it with the MotoGP, the Australian weather offers us a discontinuous alternation of brief rain and sun drying a track at 18°.
Did the MotoGP session end in the rain? It starts under the sun!

Here are references available :

Phillip Island Moto2	2015	2016
FP1	1'33.658 Sam Lowes	1'47.629 Jonas Folger (rain)
FP2	1'33.106 Alex Rins	Canceled (rain)
FP3	1'32.883 Alex Rins
QP	1'32.523 Alex Rins
WUP	1'32.798 Alex Rins
Course	Rins, Lowes, Baldassarri
All time lap record	1'32.470 Tito Rabat 2014

 

The drivers set off on wet tires on a drying track for a first 15-minute race at the end of which the Top 10 hierarchy is made up of Jonas Folger, Jesko Raffin, Julian Simon, Alex Rins, Simone Corsi, Remy Gardner, Johann Zarco, Xavier Siméon, Tom Luthi and Alex Marquez.

 

While everyone is stopped passing slicks, Marcel schrotter is temporarily the finest strategist by taking advantage of the last seconds before the return of violent rain: 1'42.210, best time!

The minutes pass in silence on the Australian circuit, waiting for a lull which occurs around mid-session…

Johann zarco is the first to emerge but his times are still 6 seconds slower than his 1'44.864 before the interruption due to rain. Over the laps, however, the gap was reduced to 4, then 3, then 2, then 1 second, before recording a 1'44.530 16 minutes from the checkered flag. This is obviously a sign that the track has dried well and that we will soon have to use slicks.

The sun is indeed back for the last quarter of an hour, but it is accompanied by drops of rain, which will leave everyone on their end until the last minute, when half a dozen drivers on slicks manage to explode the times.

A session during which Johann zarco ultimately showed himself to be the most hardworking, but also the most strategist and the most incisive, half a second ahead Axel Pons et Tom Luthi.

Xavier Simeon finished 17th, Alex Rins 19e.

Ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net

1. Johann zarco FRA Ajo Motorsport (Kalex) 1m 38.206s
2. Axel Pons SPA AGR Team (Kalex) 1m 38.755s
3. Thomas luthi SWI Garage Plus Interwetten (Kalex) 1m 38.778s
4. Alex Marquez SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (Kalex) 1m 39.121s
5. Marcel schrotter GER AGR Team (Kalex) 1m 39.125s
6. Simone Courses ITA Speed ​​Up Racing (Speed ​​Up) 1m 39.379s
7. Sandra Cortese GER Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 40.242s
8. Hafiz Syahrin MAL Petronas Raceline Malaysia (Kalex) 1m 41.553s
9. Julian Simon SPA QMMF Racing Team (Speed ​​Up) 1m 41.634s
10. Franco Morbidelli ITA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS (Kalex) 1m 42.149s
11. Remy gardner AUS Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 42.872s
12. Jonas Folger GER Dynavolt Intact GP (Kalex) 1m 42.967s
13. Xavi Verge SPA Tech 3 Racing (Tech 3) 1m 43.150s
14. Jesko Raffin SWI Sports-Millions-EMWE-SAG (Kalex) 1m 43.178s
15. Edgar Pons SPA Paginas Amarillas HP 40 (Kalex) 1m 43.901s
16. Sam Lowes GBR Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 (Kalex) 1m 43.905s
17. Xavier Simeon BEL QMMF Racing Team (Speed ​​Up) 1m 44.006s
18. Iker Lecuona SPA CarXpert Interwetten (Kalex) 1m 44.195s
19. alex rins SPA Paginas Amarillas HP 40 (Kalex) 1m 44.347s
20. Lorenzo Baldassarri ITA Forward Team (Kalex) 1m 44.688s
21. Luca marini ITA Forward Team (Kalex) 1m 44.810s
22. Isaac Viñales SPA Tech 3 Racing (Tech 3) 1m 44.896s
Robin Mulhauser SWI CarXpert Interwetten (Kalex) 1m 45.809s
Ramdan Rosli MAL Petronas AHM Malaysia (Kalex) 1m 46.137s
Danny Kent GBR Leopard Racing (Kalex) 1m 46.275s
Mattia Pasini ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 1m 46.635s
Alexander Nocco ITA Leopard Racing (Kalex) 1m 46.980s
Takaaki Nakagami JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 47.421s
Rattha Park Wilairot THA IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 1m 48.040s