Honda Team Asia's Mario Aji will lead the Moto3™ field into qualifying later after further rain on Saturday morning stopped anyone from breaking inside the top 14 during FP3 at the Tissot Grand Prix of Portugal. Only five riders were able to improve on yesterday's performance, with none of them able to challenge the automatic Q2 places.
Not the kind of dancing in the rain we like to see! ????@Taiyofurusato72 was up to his feet afterwards! ????#Moto3 | #PortugueseGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/SdqcxO16nX
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) April 23, 2022
Indonesia's Aji, therefore, will be the man to beat in Q2 later as he eyes a second front row start of his rookie season. Joining Super Mario in a top four split by less than a tenth of a second is Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets - MSI), Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Dani Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3).
Championship leader Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) was one of the five riders to improve but he remained outside the top 14 and, as a result, will have to fight it out of Q1 later for the first time in 2022. You'll see the Italian in action in the opening qualifying session at 12:35 local time (GMT+1) on Saturday afternoon.
Not much warning for @JuniorGP regular David Alonso! ⚠️
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) April 23, 2022
The young Colombian gets ejected at Turn 7 ????#Moto3 | #PortugueseGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/f95IVHnvYm
Moto3™ Top 10:
1. Mario Aji (Honda Team Asia) – 2:02.491
2. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) + 0.053
3. Riccardo Rossi (SIC 58 Squadra Corse) + 0.075
4. Carlos Tatay (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) + 0.167
5. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.167
6. Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) + 0.410
7. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.665
8. Lorenzo Fellon (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.777
9. Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team) + 0.849
10. Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) + 0.903