Folger, Márquez and Rabat set the pace in FP3 at Le Mans

The motorcycle World Championship got Saturday’s action underway at the Le Mans Circuit with FP3, with the fastest riders being Jonas Folger in Moto3, Marc Márquez in MotoGP and Tito Rabat in Moto2. Without a doubt, maximum intensity on the French track in this fourth round of the 2013 season.

The first riders out on track were the Moto3 riders, with Jonas Folger in first position and setting a lap time of 1:44.724, the fastest and leaving a little over a tenth to second-placed Maverick Viñales; while in third position was Álex Rins, more than three tenths back, completing the top 10 with Oliveira 4th, Antonelli 5th, Ajo 6th, Salom 7th, Masbou 8th, Khairuddin 9th and 10th I. Viñales.

The rest of the Spanish riders finished 11th Márquez, 23rd Carrasco and 25th Guevara. We also remind you of Efrén Vázquez’s absence due to injury after his crash yesterday in practice. There were several crashes during the session involving Fenati, Kornfeil, Binder, Ferrari, Tonucci and Salom; the Mallorcan suffered a nasty crash, luckily without serious consequences, but he has pain in his back and arms.

The next riders out on the French track were the MotoGP riders, with the fastest being Marc Márquez, the 93 who set the best laps in the final minutes of the session, achieving a lap time of 1:33.600. This time was the best of the FP3 session and also of the combined times, so the Catalan has been the best of the whole weekend so far; we will see what happens in Q2.

Behind in the session was Lorenzo, almost half a second back, with Pedrosa 3rd, Crutchlow 4th and Dovi 5th. Meanwhile, in the combined free practice standings Márquez remains in first position, with Pedrosa 2nd, Lorenzo 3rd, Rossi 4th, Bradl 5th, Hayden 6th, Crutchlow 7th, Dovi 8th, Smith 9th and 10th Bautista. These 10 riders go directly to Q2, with Aleix Espargaró having to go through Q1, a complicated session with several crashes, such as those of Yonny Hernández, Álvaro Bautista and also Héctor Barberá. The Valencian had to go to the medical centre, where they confirmed a small fracture in the ring finger of his left hand, but he will be able to continue in the race.

The next and final riders in this FP3 were the Moto2 riders, with Tito Rabat, who is in top form and very strong, managing a lap of 1:38.741, the fastest, leaving Scott Redding behind, though only by 0.028s. Completing the top 10 were Terol 3rd, Nakagami 4th, Espargaró 5th, Simeon 6th, Zarco 7th, Pasini 8th, Luthi 9th and 10th Schrotter.

The rest of the Spanish riders finished 11th Simón, 12th Pons, 16th Elías, 18th Torres, 23rd Cardús, 30th Moncayo and 31st Smith. It was a session with many crashes, including those of Redding, Odendaal, Torres and Cortese, luckily none of which seem to have had physical consequences.

Now it’s time for the battle for pole.

Photo | MotoGP Official website