Ramirez sets new fastest-ever lap to top Moto3™ FP3

The pace in Germany is hot after the Spanish GP winner broke Danny Kent’s four-year-old outright lap record

Leopard Racing’s Marcos Ramirez put down quite the marker in FP3 by setting the fastest ever Moto3™ lap around the Sachsenring, breaking the 2015 World Champion Danny Kent’s four-year-old record by just over a tenth of a second. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Can Öncü benefitted massively from a tow that he managed to blag off Ramirez to end the session second quickest.

The Spanish GP winner set his flying lap with ten minutes remaining after exiting pitlane with Leopard Racing teammate Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Oncu. The Leopard pair tried to wave Öncü on, but the Turk was having none of it and tucked in behind Ramirez before getting dragged round to second on the timesheets.

Filip Salac (Redox PrüstelGP) ended the session third quickest, just 0.070 adrift of the 1:26.044 set by Ramirez, meaning the top three all went under the previous best lap. Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) heads into Q2 having finished fourth quickest, narrowly ahead of yesterday’s pacesetter Ayumu Sasaki aboard the Petronas Sprinta Racing Honda.

Kömmerling Gresini Moto3’s Gabriel Rodrigo was three tenths adrift of top spot in sixth, ahead of the Japanese duo of Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) and Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse). Rounding out the top ten were Dalla Porta and SIC58 Squadra Corse’s Niccolo Antonelli.

Sama Qatar Angel Nieto’s Raul Fernandez was the only rider inside the top 14 and moving straight to Q2 that failed to improve on their lap time from yesterday, in part down to a crash at Turn 12 with two minutes remaining. The reigning Junior World Champion is the only man to have not improved from his Friday morning FP1 lap time.

Taking the final Q2 spots are Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0), Romano Fenati (VNE Snipers) and Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto). That means the current World Championship leader, Sterilgarda Max Racing Team’s Aron Canet will have to go through Q1 after his best lap was cancelled in the final seconds of the session due to exceeding track limits.

Combined top ten:
1. Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) - 1:26.044
2. Can Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.068
3. Filip Salac (Redox PrüstelGP) + 0.070
4. Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) + 0.261
5. Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 0.287
6. Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) + 0.303
7. Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) + 0.385
8. Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.482
9. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) + 0.484
10. Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.510

Click here for full results!

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