A new lap record for Stefano Nepa (BOE Owlride) in Moto3™ FP3 at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya hands the Italian P1, with Friday pacesetter Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) finishing 0.048s behind Nepa’s 1:47.761. Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) is also within a tenth of the fastest time ahead of qualifying, the Japanese rider is third fastest so far in Barcelona.
???? @stefanonepa82 springs a surprise!
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) June 5, 2021
The young Italian grabs top spot as @37_pedroacosta misses out on Q2! ????#Moto3 | #CatalanGP ???? pic.twitter.com/bIGrcZOdng
Who’s straight into Q2?
Almost all the riders were able to improve their Friday times on their last flying laps in FP3, with Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) completing the top five – the South African one of the few who didn’t go quicker in FP3. Sixth place Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) and seventh place Niccolo Antonelli (Avintia Esponsorama Moto3) are less than three downs shy of Nepa’s pace, Jeremy Alcoba (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3), Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) and Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3) close out the top 10 after Free Practice.
Filip Salac (Rivacold Snipers Team) is just over half a second away from Nepa in P11, the Czech rider is safely into the pole position shootout, with Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power), rookie Adrian Fernandez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) and Izan Guevara (Solunion GASGAS Aspar Team) – another rider who didn’t improve on Saturday morning – making up the remainder of the top 14.
Big names competing in Q1
World Championship leader Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) finished P19, and the Spaniard is joined by some of his closest competitors. Sergio Garcia (Solunion GASGAS Aspar Team), Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) and John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) will all take part in the first part of qualifying, only four spots are up for grabs.
Tune into Moto3™ qualifying at 12:35 local time (GMT+2).
Top 10 combined:
1. Stefano Nepa (BOE Owlride) – 1:47.761
2. Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) + 0.048
3. Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.072
4. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 0.219
5. Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 0.267
6. Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) + 0.270
7. Niccolo Antonelli (Avintia Esponsorama Moto3) + 0.294
8. Jeremy Alcoba (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) + 0.396
9. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) + 0.402
10. Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 0.498
FULL RESULTS!