Suzuki sets the pace in wet Moto3™ FP3

SIC58 Squadra Corse’s Tatsuki Suzuki was the quickest man in Saturday morning’s wet Moto3™ FP3 session at the Shark Helmets Grand Prix de France, as the fastest 14 riders from Friday’s FP2 session progressed directly into Q2 with the wet conditions causing lap times to be over ten seconds a lap slower.

Suzuki was a tenth clear of the Bester Capital Dubai duo of Andrea Migno and Jaume Masia followed by Kömmerling Gresini Moto3’s Gabriel Rodrigo and the Honda Team Asia’s Ai Ogura who, despite a crash in the tricky conditions, heads into qualifying as the fastest rider of the weekend so far after he topped yesterday’s FP2.

Ogura is joined in Q2 by SIC58 Squadra Corse’s Niccolo Antonelli and Suzuki. Also straight into Q2 is Migno, Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) and Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), who suffered a second crash of the weekend in the wet.

Rodrigo progresses, as does Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team), despite the young Spaniard being one of three riders to be handed a 12-place grid penalty for slow riding in FP2; the other two being Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) and Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0).

The final five into Q2 directly are Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46), Kazuki Masaka (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race), Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing), Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) and Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers).

Q1 gets underway at 12:35 (GMT+2) live from Le Mans and with rain looking likely to be hanging around for most of the day, it really is anyone’s guess who’ll claim pole position.

Combined top 10:
1. Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) 1:42.147
2. Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.116
3. Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.313
4. Andrea Migno (Bester Capital Dubai) + 0.318
5. Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) + 0.335
6. Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers) + 0.346
7. Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) + 0.361
8. Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) + 0.407
9. Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) + 0.473
10. Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.539

Click here for the full results!