Romano Fenati - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com
Romano Fenati's sensational start to life in Grand Prix racing continued as the rookie topped the timesheets in Friday practice for the Spanish Grand Prix. The 16 year old pushed Maverick Vinales for victory in Qatar and led the championship leader today as well, with his time from the dry first session enough to top the combined leaderboard.
The first session was punctuated by a red flag stoppage after Hector Faubel crashed his Kalex KTM at turn two, the same corner where he crashed out of last year's 125cc race. The Bankia Aspar rider was stretchered away but returned to complete 15 laps in the afternoon.
Several more riders went down in the second session, which was run entirely in the wet, with Mahindra one of the teams particularly affected. Both Danny Webb and Marcel Schrotter slid off at the final corner within seconds of each other while Moto FGR's Jasper Iwema also crashed out in the latter stages.
Miguel Oliveira was fastest in FP2 for Estrella Galicia 0,0 but his new teammate created headlines of his own. Alex Marquez, brother of Marc, led the session on a number of occasions before finishing up ninth quickest, despite this being his Grand Prix debut. The Spaniard will race as a wildcard on Sunday.
With conditions so different in the two sessions, the morning times were substantially quicker than the afternoon, leaving Romano Fenati unchallenged at the top with a quarter of a second in hand over Maverick Vinales. Sandro Cortese was third ahead of Oliveira, Luis Salom and Hector Faubel who finished sixth despite his crash.
Danny Kent finished just behind teammate Arthur Sissis in eighth while Danny Webb, unhurt after his fall, was 22nd overall.
Moto3 Gran Premio bwin de Espana: Combined Friday Practice Times
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Motorcycle | Team | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Romano Fenati | ITA | FTR Honda | Team Italia FMI | 1:49.760 |
| 2 | Maverick Viñales | SPA | FTR Honda | Blusens Avintia | +0.248 |
| 3 | Sandro Cortese | GER | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +0.478 |
| 4 | Miguel Oliveira | POR | Suter Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | +0.857 |
| 5 | Luis Salom | SPA | Kalex KTM | RW Racing GP | +0.965 |
| 6 | Hector Faubel | SPA | Kalex KTM | Bankia Aspar Team | +0.968 |
| 7 | Arthur Sissis | AUS | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +1.052 |
| 8 | Danny Kent | GBR | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +1.168 |
| 9 | Jakub Kornfeil | CZE | FTR Honda | Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta | +1.256 |
| 10 | Alberto Moncayo | SPA | Kalex KTM | Bankia Aspar Team | +1.315 |
| 11 | Alex Marquez (WC) | SPA | Suter Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | +1.316 |
| 12 | Louis Rossi | FRA | FTR Honda | Racing Team Germany | +1.340 |
| 13 | Niccolo Antonelli | ITA | FTR Honda | San Carlo Gresini Moto3 | +1.380 |
| 14 | Alex Rins | SPA | Suter Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | +1.440 |
| 15 | Niklas Ajo | FIN | KTM | TT Motion Events Racing | +1.653 |
| 16 | Alessandro Tonucci | ITA | FTR Honda | Team Italia FMI | +1.686 |
| 17 | Jasper Iwema | NED | FGR Honda | Moto FGR | +1.871 |
| 18 | Brad Binder | RSA | Kalex KTM | RW Racing GP | +1.953 |
| 19 | Alexis Masbou | FRA | Honda | Caretta Technology | +2.104 |
| 20 | Zulfahmi Khairuddin | MAL | KTM | AirAsia-Sic-Ajo | +2.194 |
| 21 | Alan Techer | FRA | TSR Honda | Technomag-CIP-TSR | +2.371 |
| 22 | Danny Webb | GBR | Mahindra Oral | Mahindra Racing | +2.433 |
| 23 | Isaac Viñales | SPA | FTR Honda | Ongetta-Centro Seta | +2.493 |
| 24 | Kenta Fujii | JAP | TSR Honda | Technomag-CIP-TSR | +2.826 |
| 25 | Jack Miller | AUS | Honda | Caretta Technology | +3.220 |
| 26 | Marcel Schrotter | GER | Mahindra Oral | Mahindra Racing | +3.320 |
| 27 | Simone Grotzkyj | ITA | Oral | Ambrogio Next Racing | +3.477 |
| 28 | Adrian Martin | SPA | FTR Honda | JHK T-Shirt Laglisse | +3.563 |
| 29 | Ivan Moreno | SPA | FTR Honda | AndalucÃa JHK Laglisse | +3.669 |
| 30 | Efren Vazquez | SPA | FTR Honda | JHK T-Shirt Laglisse | +3.773 |
| 31 | Toni Finsterbusch | GER | MZ-RE Honda | Cresto Guide MZ Racing | +4.797 |
| 32 | Josep Rodriguez (WC) | SPA | FTR Honda | Wild Wolf BST | +5.233 |
| 33 | Giulian Pedone | SWI | Oral | Ambrogio Next Racing | +6.805 |
| 34 | Luigi Morciano | ITA | Ioda | Ioda Team Italia | +7.481 |
