Iannone finds form in Valencia FP3

Andrea Iannone put his case forward for a potential challenge for pole position in Valencia with the fastest lap of the weekend so far in the third and final free practice on Saturday morning, posting a time of 1’36.433 on his last turn of the session. The Fimmco Speed Up rider, who was 21st on the overall timesheet on Friday, shot to the top of the order to finish FP3 at 0.290s ahead of next fastest Alex de Angelis.

The JiR Moto2 rider was accompanied in the top three by Kenan Sofuoglu, the Turkish rider who impressed greatly on his debut last weekend in Portugal and who is riding a Suter MMX for the Technomag-CIP team again in this final round of the 2010 season.

Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing), who topped the opening two practice sessions and remains second fastest in the combined practice times, ended the third session in fourth position at 0.381s off Iannone, with Iannone’s rival for the Championship runner-up spot Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) fifth and 0.550s off the pace of his Italian opponent.

American rider Kenny Noyes (Jack&Jones by Antonio Banderas), Czech Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing) and British youngster Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) completed the top eight at the end of the 45 minutes, with World Champion Toni Elías (Gresini Racing) and Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki) the final two to register top-ten times.

Qualifying for the Moto2 class is due to get underway at 3.10pm local time.