Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) flew to the top of the timesheets during Saturday morning's Practice 3 at the IndianOil Grand Prix of India, with his 1:59.675 placing him as the fastest rider on the combined practice times. As usual, the fast laps came flying in during the final five minutes of the session. Collin Veijer's (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) held strong after his flying lap from Practice 2 kept him top of the pile until the closing stages of Practice 3 - the Dutchman did improve by a tenth to consolidate P2 following Moreira's flyer. Despite a monster crash, Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) rounded up the top 3 after his Husqvarna machine went up in flames. The Japanese rider wasn't the only one to hit the deck either as Championship leader Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) failed to make the Q2 cut once again after crashing out and finishing in P18.
Yet more drama for the championship contenders! 🤯@daniholgado96 has launched himself at Turn 10! 💥#IndianGP 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/5oEQczWAqC
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) September 23, 2023
The top 14 are now decided ahead of qualifying with most of the big hitters securing themselves Q2 spots. It was a good day for Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) who finished 0.070s away from the top three in P4. Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team) rounded out the top five ahead of Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) and Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing), with David Alonso (Gaviota Aspar Team) , Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse), and Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) taking 8th, 9th, and 10th.
Joel Kelso (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) consolidated an automatic Q2 place in P11 as he finished ahead of David Salvador (CIP Green Power). Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) took the final Q2 spots in 13th and 14th with David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) and Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team) just missing out.
Next up for Moto3™ is qualifying at 13:20 local time (GMT +5:30), in the meantime you can keep up to date with everything from the IndianOil Grand Prix of India on motogp.com!
Top 10
| 1 | Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) | 1:59.375 |
| 2 | Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) | +0.063 |
| 3 | Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) | +0.141 |
| 4 | Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) | +0.211 |
| 5 | Matteo Bertelle (Rivacold Snipers Team) | +0.252 |
| 6 | Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) | +0.377 |
| 7 | Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | +0.400 |
| 8 | David Alonso (GASGAS Aspar Team) | +0.462 |
| 9 | Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse) | +0.484 |
| 10 | Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) | +0.576 |