Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) went quickest on Day 3 of the Moto2™ and Moto3™ Official Test in Qatar, topping the combined timesheets on Sunday by three tenths and with a lap quite a chunk faster than the previous record, although it will remain unofficial as it was set in testing. And who was closest on his tail? His rookie teammate Pedro Acosta, as both the 2020 Red Bull Rookies Cup winner and 2020 FIM Moto3™ Junior World Champion Izan Guevara (GasGas Gaviota Aspar Team) continued their incredible rookie form, with Guevara taking fourth. Between the two debutants, Leopard Racing’s Dennis Foggia was third overall.
The conditions were good once again on Day 3, with Masia’s best lap taking a second off the fastest effort on Saturday. That best lap came late in the day but it was a cracker, a 2:04.263 as he pipped teammate Acosta by three tenths and set that new, unofficial scorcher. The two Red Bull KTM Ajos have been consistently quick, as have Guevara and Foggia, with the mix of veterans and rookies at the top making for interesting reading.
Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) was fifth quickest, 0.072 off Guevara, who was in turn only 0.015 off Foggia. Sixth went to Day 2’s quickest man John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing), ahead of 2020 Rookie of the Year Jeremy Alcoba (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3). Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) kept his consistency to end the day eighth for Husqvarna, ahead of Filip Salač (Rivacold Snipers Team) in P9. Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing), quickest on Friday, rounds out the top ten.
11th was third rookie Xavier Artigas (Leopard Racing) as he settles into Moto3™ as a debuting full time rider with a podium already under his belt, with Jason Dupasquier (CarXpert Pruestel GP) putting in a solid 12th on Sunday. Niccolo Antonelli (Avintia Esponsorama Moto3), Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power) and Sergio Garcia (GasGas Gaviota Aspar Team) completed the top 15, the latter despite a crash – rider ok.
That’s it from the test, now all that’s left to do is race. Will the timesheets look similar once the race weekend begins? Who has the pace in race trim and who’s ready to battle it out as only Moto3™ can? We’ll find out soon enough as the Barwa Grand Prix of Qatar begins on Friday…