Sterilgarda Max Racing Team’s Aron Canet stormed to a brand new fastest ever Moto3™ lap around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to lead the way into qualifying at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya. The Championship leader set a 1:48.433, a tenth of a second quicker than Deniz Öncü went in the Junior World Championship last weekend.
The Spaniard is a tenth clear of SIC58 Squadra Corse’s Niccolo Antonelli, who also went under the laptime the young Turk set on his way to pole position at last weekend’s FIM CEV Repsol round. Kömmerling Gresini Moto3’s Gabriel Rodrigo found a further six tenths of a second from yesterday to remain inside the top three.
The championship leader safely through to Q2! ????@aroncanet44 leads the way after #Moto3 FP3! ????#CatalanGP ???? pic.twitter.com/m5h8fuLWLV
— MotoGP™ ???? (@MotoGP) June 15, 2019
Sama Qatar Angel Nieto’s Raul Fernandez improved by a massive 1.4 seconds to jump up from 19th to fourth quickest ahead of qualifying this afternoon. The reigning Junior World Champion just ahead of Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) and Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai).
Yesterday’s pace setters, Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Sergio Garcia and Alonso Lopez, did improve from yesterday but slipped back to seventh and eighth place respectively. They finished just ahead of another pair of teammates in Leopard Racing’s Marcos Ramirez and Lorenzo Dalla Porta, who rounded out the top ten.
✊ @Alonsolopez72 is giving it EVERYTHING to reach Q2!#CatalanGP ???? pic.twitter.com/5UWNN8f7iR
— MotoGP™ ???? (@MotoGP) June 15, 2019
Outside of the top ten, but securing a place direct into Q2 later, were Italian GP winner Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers), wildcard Carlos Tatay (Fundacion Andreas Perez 77), South African Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) and French GP winner John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing).
Crashes for SIC58 Squadra Corse’s Tatsuki Suzuki, SKY Racing Team VR46’s Celestino Vietti and Honda Team Asia's Kaito Toba means the pair will have to fight it out in Q1, which gets underway at 12:35 (GMT+2) at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
????????♂️ @KaitoToba is on the run back to pit-lane!
— MotoGP™ ???? (@MotoGP) June 15, 2019
The Japanese rider suffered this crash at turn 9, moments after being bumped from the top 14! ????#CatalanGP ???? pic.twitter.com/PdFetbB4KQ
Top 10 combined:
1. Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) - 1:48.433
2. Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.107
3. Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) + 0.173
4. Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) + 0.197
5. Makar Yurchenko (TEAM NAME) + 0.237
6. Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai) + 0.315
7. Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) + 0.389
8. Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) + 0.404
9. Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) + 0.454
10. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) + 0.461
Click here for full results!