Cortese, Luthi and Lorenzo top the FP3 sessions of the World Championship in Qatar

The World Motorcycle Championship continues in action at the Losail Circuit, where the third free practice sessions of the season’s first round in Qatar have taken place, so the riders are still adapting to the track and the conditions.

The first to go out were the MotoGP riders for their own FP2, while the third free practice sessions were opened by the Moto3 riders, with the best time of this session set by veteran Sandro Cortese, who posted a 2:08.342, unable to beat the 2:08.160 that Mack set yesterday in FP2, although track conditions were more difficult today due to sand and wind.

Behind Cortese, Fenati finished just 0.034s back, so all the times are very close, since the top five positions were filled by Luis Salom in 3rd, just 0.101s from the leader; Maverick Viñales in 4th, 0.135s from the FP3 leader, and finally Miguel Oliveira.

So everyone is very close, with a KTM dominating the day, but the FTRs, the Kalex-KTMs and the FTRs also looking strong, without a doubt a lot of variety, though with a clear Spanish flavour thanks to Viñales and Salom, who dominated the session until the last moment when Cortese and Fenati appeared.

The top 10 was completed by Danny Kent 6th, Alex Rins 7th, Héctor Faubel 8th, Alexis Masbou 9th and Niccolo Antonelli 10th; so our riders have improved in this first contact, although some had scares, such as Faubel, who crashed at the end of the session but without serious consequences. The rest of the Spanish riders finished 18th Alberto Moncayo, 21st Isaac Viñales, 22nd Adrián Martín, 26th Iván Moreno and 28th Efrén Vázquez.

Now all that remains is tomorrow’s real session, the official practice that will decide the first grid of the season for the Moto3 riders.

Moto3 FP3 Classification in Qatar 2012

Sandro CORTESE GER Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 215,8 2’08.342
Romano FENATI ITA Team Italia FMI FTR Honda 219,2 2’08.376 0.034 / 0.034
Luis SALOM SPA RW Racing GP Kalex KTM 219,9 2’08.443 0.101 / 0.067
Maverick VIÑALES SPA Blusens Avintia FTR Honda 218,9 2’08.477 0.135 / 0.034
Miguel OLIVEIRA POR Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda 221,4 2’08.904 0.562 / 0.427
Danny KENT GBR Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 219,5 2’09.025 0.683 / 0.121
Alex RINS SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda 216,9 2’09.303 0.961 / 0.278
Hector FAUBEL SPA Bankia Aspar Team Kalex KTM 217,6 2’09.448 1.106 / 0.145
Alexis MASBOU FRA Caretta Technology Honda 215,7 2’09.688 1.346 / 0.240
Niccolo ANTONELLI ITA San Carlo Gresini Moto3 Honda 217,0 2’09.696 1.354 / 0.008

In the Moto2 category we witnessed a great battle between Thomas Luthi, Pol Espargaró and Tito Rabat. These three riders dominated FP3, but in the end the Swiss rider came out on top and set a spectacular 2:00.479, coming very close to the 2011 pole position set by Stefan Bradl.

The second place went to the Pons Racing rider Pol Espargaró. The 40 was one of the strong men and stayed in the fight for the best time until the end, although in the end he had to settle for second place, just 0.040s behind Luthi, while showing he has pace and consistency with his Kalex. Completing the strong trio of the day was Tito Rabat, another Pons Racing rider. Clearly that Kalex works very well, and the 80 also showed great pace, finishing a little over half a second behind the leader, but going all out.

The top 10 was completed by Scott Redding 4th, Claudio Corti 5th, Simone Corsi 6th, Andrea Iannone 7th, Bradley Smith 8th, Marc Márquez 9th and Alex De Angelis 10th. From first to eighth they were all within the same second, so many riders have good times and can fight for the official sessions and the race. As for the rest of the Spanish riders, we have Julián Simón 13th, Nico Terol 18th, Ricky Cardús 21st, Toni Elías 23rd, Angel Rodríguez 26th, Axel Pons 27th and Elena Rosell 32nd. There was a minor scare for the 49 Pons at the end of the session, but they still have plenty of room to improve; it’s just a matter of getting the feeling.

Now comes the moment of truth in the official practice sessions in Qatar, so everyone get ready to give it full throttle.

Moto2 FP3 Top 10 Classification in Qatar

Thomas LUTHI SWI Interwetten-Paddock Suter 274,9 2’00.479
Pol ESPARGARO SPA Pons 40 HP Tuenti Kalex 276,9 2’00.519 0.040 / 0.040
Esteve RABAT SPA Pons 40 HP Tuenti Kalex 276,0 2’01.118 0.639 / 0.599
Scott REDDING GBR Marc VDS Racing Team Kalex 274,1 2’01.230 0.751 / 0.112
Claudio CORTI ITA Italtrans Racing Team Kalex 271,4 2’01.291 0.812 / 0.061
Simone CORSI ITA Came IodaRacing Project FTR 276,6 2’01.335 0.856 / 0.044
Andrea IANNONE ITA Speed Master Speed Up 271,8 2’01.348 0.869 / 0.013
Bradley SMITH GBR Tech 3 Racing Tech 3 269,9 2’01.395 0.916 / 0.047
Marc MARQUEZ SPA Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol Suter 274,0 2’01.487 1.008 / 0.092
Alex DE ANGELIS RSM NGM Mobile Forward Racing Suter 275,4 2’01.508 1.029 / 0.021

In the premier class we saw the first strike from Jorge Lorenzo. The Yamaha rider was the fastest in the final free practice session at the Losail Circuit, leaving behind the dominance Casey Stoner had shown until now. Without a doubt the 99 is ready to give it full throttle in the official sessions, and he showed it in this last run, setting a 1:55.302 to finish FP3 as the fastest.

Lorenzo improved his times in the final minutes, when almost everyone assumed the MotoGP world champion would finish the session as the fastest once again. He was not the only Yamaha M1 to fly in Qatar, since Cal Crutchlow also managed to place ahead of the Australian, finishing 0.154s behind Lorenzo’s time. So, two Yamahas at the top.

On this occasion Stoner had to settle for third place, which he surely won’t have liked, knowing the Australian. Despite dominating much of FP3, he ended up being overtaken at the end. It is true that the champion did not go out on soft tyres, finishing the day with a 1:55.674, just over four tenths behind his main rival, Jorge Lorenzo.

To complete the top 10 came Andrea Dovizioso 4th, Dani Pedrosa 5th, Héctor Barberá 6th, Nicky Hayden 7th, Valentino Rossi 8th, Stefan Bradl 9th and Álvaro Bautista 10th. From these positions it is interesting to see Dovi’s rapid adaptation to his Yamaha, the chattering problems Pedrosa still has, and the incredible feelings Barberá is experiencing as the best Ducati in the timing sheets with his GPzero. Bautista continues step by step, and of the Honda it seems to be the one with the fewest bouncing problems, so his times will keep improving.

The rider with the most difficult session of the official ones was Ben Spies, who suffered a small crash without consequences, but which cut his free practice short, finishing in 11th place. As for the best CRT, things returned to normal: the ART of Randy de Puniet was once again the best on track, followed by Edwards’ Suter and Espargaró’s ART, so for now Aspar must be satisfied with their MotoGP machines.

For the rest of the Spanish riders things went with Aleix Espargaró 17th and Iván Silva 19th, each with their respective CRTs.

Tomorrow comes the moment of truth, the battle for the first pole position of the season, with Lorenzo and Stoner very strong, but unable to rule out other names such as Pedrosa or Spies.

MotoGP FP3 Classification in Qatar