Marquez pips Di Giannantonio to P1 despite crash

Despite a crash towards the end of the session, Moto2™ Championship leader Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) set a 1:37.776 in FP3 at the GP Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini to edge out home rider Fabio Di Giannantonio (+Ego Speed Up) by just 0.026, with Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) continuing his good weekend to claim P3 on Saturday morning.

It was Nagashima’s teammate Remy Gardner who was the initial big mover in the early stages of the session though. His fourth flying lap in FP3 took the Australian to the top of the combined standings, and he would stay there for a while before the latter half of the session saw some changes.

Birthday boy Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) then moved up the order to go to P3, with Di Giannantonio then finding a good chunk of time to launch himself to the summit – 0.2 clear of the field with under 10 minutes remaining. However, Marquez was lurking at the top of the times and on his 15th flying lap, the Spaniard displaced the Italian to go P1. But, Marquez’ session would end metres after – the number 73 Kalex was on the floor at Turn 1, with both he and Championship rival Augusto Fernandez (FlexBox HP 40) crashing in FP3.

Fernandez was back out and improved to fifth in the final stages, moving Lowes down to sixth. At the flag, Marquez held on to P1 to lead the intermediate class into qualifying, with rookie Di Giannantonio continuing to impress. ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team duo Nagashima and Gardner claim P3 and P4, while Fernandez and Lowes occupy fifth and sixth respectively. Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) leads Nicolo Bulega (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo), with the latter duo leaping up the timing screens in the final stages – Binder coming from outside the top 14. The returning Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) completes a top 10 covered by 0.610.

Dynavolt Intact GP’s Tom Lüthi and Marcel Schrötter crashed in FP3, the latter headed to the medical centre, with Mattia Pasini (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) suffering a heavy fall at Turn 10 as the Italian also went to the medical centre. Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Jorge Martin also had a huge crash on the exit of Turn 6 in the final stages, rider ok.

Qualifying begins at 15:05 local time (GMT+2) for the Moto2™ riders at Misano – who will take pole?

Top 10 combined:
1. Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) 1:37.776
2. Fabio Di Giannantonio (+Ego Speed Up) + 0.026
3. Tetsuta Nagashima (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) + 0.179
4. Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) + 0.289
5. Augusto Fernandez (FlexBox HP40) + 0.375
6. Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 0.384
7. Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) + 0.447
8. Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) + 0.458
9. Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.490
10. Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) + 0.610

Click here for the full results!