After getting some of the worst of the weather on Friday, the Moto2™ World Championship welcomed the warmer conditions with open arms. It was a drama free session as riders went about adjusting their bikes to the better conditions, improving their times as they went.
Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) was one of the first riders to go faster than Friday’s best time, a 1’25.244 set by Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia). The Swiss rider remained top for almost the entirety of the session, concluding the final practice session as the fastest rider with a 1’24.845. But there was almost nothing to choose between the leading seven, all within two tenths.
Only 0.012s back on Luthi, Takaaki Nakagami was able to improve his time from Friday by almost half a second. This saw the Japanese race winner end FP3 in second with a 1’24.857, able to produce the 1’24 laps with relative ease. Tyre life will be a deciding factor in Sunday's race, the Sachsenring devouring the left hand side of all the tyres.
Third fastest was Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing), the only non-Kalex bike inside the top ten. Corsi has twice taken to the podium in Germany in the Moto2™ class, second and third in 2013 and 2014 respectively. He managed to complete 28 laps, more than any other rider in the session.
Like his fellow Italian, Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Team) focused on getting the laps in during FP3. He completed 27 laps with a best time of 1’24.980 putting him fourth overall. Once again Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) was the fastest German rider of the session.
Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport), Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40), Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) rounded out the top ten. From Luthi in first to Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) in 21st the field was split by less than one second.
Championship front-runner Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) was a distant 14th place, 0.674s slower than Luthi's best lap. Work to do for the Brit, especially with Folger and Zarco both within two tenths of the top.
Times and standings for the session are available here.