Petronas Sprinta Racing’s John McPhee is the man to beat in Moto3™ heading into qualifying later on Saturday afternoon after setting the fastest lap of the weekend in FP3 at the Lenovo San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix. The Scotsman ended up just 0.002 seconds clear of Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46), who himself suffered two crashes in the closing stages of the 40 minute session.
McPhee was able to do the lap time by himself, a statement of intent to his closest rivals by showcasing his race pace. It was incredibly tight at the top too, with six riders split by less than a tenth of a second. Vietti was second, despite his pair of crashes, ahead of World Championship leader Albert Arenas (Pull&Bear Aspar Team Moto3).
A second crash for Celestino Vietti! ????#SanMarinoGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/aZ7ES6tlEB
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) September 12, 2020
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Raul Fernandez was the pacesetter on Day 1 at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli and the Spaniard was able to find a minor improvement on his lap time to close out the Free Practice sessions in fourth. Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) completed a top five separated by only 0.064 of a second.
SKY Racing Team VR46’s Andrea Migno was sixth overall, despite being only 0.090 of a second behind McPhee. Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) and Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) are seventh and eighth on the timesheets, before Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) complete the top ten.
Don’t miss qualifying from the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, kicking off with Q1 at 12:35 local time (GMT+2), where pole position will be closely contested if FP3 is anything to go by.
Top 10 combined:
1. John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) – 1:42.415
2. Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.002
3. Albert Arenas (Pull&Bear Aspar Team Moto3) + 0.022
4. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.057
5. Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) + 0.064
6. Andrea Migno (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.090
7. Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) + 0.123
8. Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) + 0.218
9. Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.302
10. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) + 0.413