There was no stopping Aron Canet (Pons Wegwow Los40) as he stormed to the top of the timesheets in Practice 3 of the Grande Prémio TISSOT de Portugal with a 1:42.003. Filip Salac (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2) continued his dream weekend to bag P2 ahead of Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who snatched 3rd spot in the dying moments of the session after a crash earlier on.
It was a session of two halves as the riders returned to the pits with 15 minutes to go, the fresh tyres then went on and the lap times began to tumble. With 10 minutes to go the pressure got to Acosta as he crashed out at Turn 3, asking a little bit too much from the front end of his KTM machine. The Spaniard was able to remount in a heroic effort to improve his Practice 2 time, put himself back into the top 3, and secure a Q2 spot. Despite his efforts, it wasn't enough to topple the scintillating lap set by Canet earlier on.
⚠️ @37_pedroacosta loses the front at T3!
— MotoGP™???? (@MotoGP) March 25, 2023
This weekend's pace setter quickly hops back on the bike ????#PortugueseGP ???????? pic.twitter.com/ro4uEaIpgK
4 minutes left of the session and Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team,) went down and out, tucking the front at Turn 11. The Brit had already done enough though, finishing the session in 8th spot and securing a place in Q2.
Make sure to tune in for Moto2™ Qualifying which is at 13:45 local time (GMT)!
Top 10:
1.Aron Canet (Pons Wegwow Los40) – 1:42.003
2. Filip Salac (QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2) + 0.086
3. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.125
4. Alonso Lopez (CAG SpeedUp) + 0.143
5. Fermin Aldeguer (CAG SpeedUp) + 0.171
6. Barry Baltus (Fieten Olie Racing GP) + 0.197
7. Manuel Gonzalez (Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Team) + 0.373
8. Jake Dixon (GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.435
9. Sam Lowes(Elf Marc VDS Team) + 0.448
10. Celestino Vietti (Fantic Racing) + 0.507