Fernandez flies on Friday to take Moto3™ top spot

Raul Fernadez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) once again showcased his pace on a Friday as the man who has picked up three pole positions so far this season will be hoping to convert it into podium glory ahead of the Gran Premio Michelin® de Aragon.

Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) and Championship leader Albert Arenas (Solunion Aspar Team) also managed to record rapid times to complete the Top 3 on the combined timesheets before FP3, however, neither could get close to Fernandez’s 1:58.144.

Riders were looking to take advantage of the most favourable of the three Free Practice conditions with a warmer track providing a grippier surface than they are likely to face on Saturday morning as they sought to secure their passage into Q2.

Fernandez was the early pacesetter but it was Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) who was the first to go under two minutes for the day, however, the Spanish rider then went to a step further to record the first sub 1.59 of the weekend as he once again showed fabulous Free Practice pace.

By the end of the second runs only four riders had broken the two-minute barrier, with Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) and Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) continuing their fine form to keep Fernandez company at the top of the timesheets and pushing Antonelli down to P4. Fernandez then laid down a marker and proved he was the man to beat, knocking more than seven-tenths off of his time to hit the low 1.58s.

A flurry of time attacks then saw a number of riders break the 1.59 barrier, with Fenati and Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) breaking into the top three, with the Italian battling Binder for P2 as they continued to record PBs in Aragon. On the final lap Championship leader Arenas recorded his best time of the weekend to sneak into the top 3, while Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) also managed to crack the top 5 at the expense of Garcia.

It was a relatively incident-free FP2, with Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) the only faller in the session as he crashed out at Turn 16 at the halfway point. The Moto3™ grid are back in action on Saturday morning at 09:30 am local time, so make to tune in and follow it all from then.

Combined top ten:
1. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – 1:58.144
2. Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) + 0.438
3. Albert Arenas (Solunion Aspar Team Moto3) + 0.532
4. Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) + 0.545
5. Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.619
6. Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) + 0.700
7. Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) + 0.828
8. Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) + 0.839
9. Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.879
10. Alonso Lopez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) + 0.974

Click here for full results!