Despite nursing a fractured metacarpal in his right hand, Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was able to top the Moto2™ FP3 timesheets at the Gran Premio TISSOT de Aragon with a 1:51.859. World Championship leader Remy Gardner made it a Red Bull KTM Ajo 1-2 and is 0.115s off his teammate, with Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) picking up P3.
Broken metacarpal and all, @25RaulFernandez is fastest in free practice! ????
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) September 11, 2021
Incredible just 6 days after his operation! ????#Moto2 | #AragonGP ???? pic.twitter.com/7BhB6laKR0
Red Bull KTM Ajo duo set the pace again
It was Lowes who landed an early hammer blow to go 0.7s clear at the top on his third flying lap, before Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) was able to cut that advantage down to 0.4s shortly after. Augusto Fernandez (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) and Xavi Vierge (Petronas Sprinta Racing) were other early improvers in FP3, as Gardner fell to P6 from P1.
However, in the latter stages, Raul Fernandez and Gardner upped the pace. The first 1:51s lap times were set by the duo as they demoted Lowes to P3. The top three are split by 0.184s heading into qualifying, with fourth place Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up) – who has just signed for Pons HP40 next season – 0.150s back from Lowes. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), despite an early crash in FP3, completes the top five after Free Practice.
2022 news! ????@Jorge_Navarro9 will team up with @pons_racing ????#Moto2 | #AragonGP ???? pic.twitter.com/usgLyru6AO
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) September 11, 2021
Bezzecchi slipped to P6 as the faster times were slotted in at the end of the session, the Italian is 0.019s ahead of reigning Moto3™ World Champion Albert Arenas (Kipin Energy Aspar Team), the Spaniard suffering a crash early in the session. Arenas’ teammate Aron Canet was eighth, American Racing’s Marcos Ramirez claimed P9 with Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) 10th – 0.650s splitting the fastest 10 riders.
Tune into Moto2™ qualifying at 15:35 local time (GMT+2)!
Top 10:
1. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – 1:51.859
2. Remy Gardner (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.115
3. Sam Lowes (Elf Marc VDS Racing Team) + 0.184
4. Jorge Navarro (+EGO Speed Up) + 0.334
5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 0.511
6. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.602
7. Albert Arenas (Kipin Energy Aspar Team) + 0.621
8. Aron Canet (Kipin Energy Aspar Team) + 0.630
9. Marcos Ramirez (American Racing) + 0.643
10. Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) + 0.650