Romano Fenati waited until the dying seconds before setting the fastest time of the day at Misano. The Italian rookie found grip where others clearly hadn’t on a drying track to go fastest by a full second from Maverick Vinales and Brno winner Jonas Folger.
The opening session first thing this morning was run in full wet conditions and although FP2 didn’t exactly see beautiful sunshine, the weather had improved slightly. Zulfahmi Khairuddin’s FP1 benchmark only stood up for ten minutes before Folger went faster, taking a lead he would later extend to 1.5 seconds.
The German would find a response whenever his position was threatened but times were tumbling rapidly in the final minutes with Fenati the first man into the 1:51s. With the chequered flag out, the Team Italia rider was still in front but Folger edged him out with a 1:51.088, only to see that beaten by Maverick Vinales who showed the kind of wet form that has deserted him all season.
Beside his dominant win at Jerez, Fenati hasn’t excelled in mixed conditions either but the teenager produced a sensational flying lap to not only go under 1:51, but break into the 1:49s. Vinales and Folger had to make do with second and third but were the only riders within two and a half seconds of the lead.
Finishing a sensational fourth was wildcard rider Kevin Calia, outpacing Alberto Moncayo, Danny Kent and Alex Rins, three men who’ve all finished on the podium at one stage this year. Championship leader Sandro Cortese was a disappointing eighth with Jakub Kornfeil and Zulfahmi Khairuddin completing the top ten. Fit-again Danny Webb was sixteenth for Mahindra on his first day back after injuring his hand at Indianapolis.
Moto3 GP Aperol di San Marino e Riviera di Rimini: Combined Friday Practice Classification:
Pos | Rider | Motorcycle | Team | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Romano Fenati | FTR Honda | Team Italia FMI | 1:49.965 |
2 | Maverick Vinales | FTR Honda | Blusens Avintia | +1.032 |
3 | Jonas Folger | Kalex KTM | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 | +1.123 |
4 | Kevin Calia (W) | Honda | Elle 2-Ciatti | +2.630 |
5 | Alberto Moncayo | FTR Honda | Andalucía JHK t-shirt Laglisse | +3.154 |
6 | Danny Kent | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +3.287 |
7 | Alex Rins | Suter Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | +3.467 |
8 | Sandro Cortese | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +3.501 |
9 | Jakub Kornfeil | FTR Honda | Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta | +4.556 |
10 | Zulfahmi Khairuddin | KTM | AirAsia-Sic-Ajo | +4.656 |
11 | Alessandro Tonucci | FTR Honda | Team Italia FMI | +4.863 |
12 | Niccolo Antonelli | FTR Honda | San Carlo Gresini Moto3 | +5.040 |
13 | Miguel Oliveira | Suter Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | +5.149 |
14 | Arthur Sissis | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | +5.167 |
15 | Luis Salom | Kalex KTM | RW Racing GP | +5.262 |
16 | Danny Webb | Mahindra | Mahindra Racing | +5.282 |
17 | Alan Techer | TSR Honda | Technomag-CIP-TSR | +5.435 |
18 | Giulian Pedone | Suter Honda | Ambrogio Next Racing | +5.602 |
19 | Jasper Iwema | FGR Honda | Moto FGR | +5.760 |
20 | Hector Faubel | Kalex KTM | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 | +5.862 |
21 | Efren Vazquez | FTR Honda | JHK Laglisse | +5.869 |
22 | Jack Miller | Honda | Caretta Technology | +5.882 |
23 | Niklas Ajo | KTM | TT Motion Events Racing | +5.893 |
24 | Alex Marquez | Suter Honda | Ambrogio Next Racing | +6.196 |
25 | Stefano Valtulini (W) | Honda | Team Imperiali Racing | +6.305 |
26 | Josep Rodriguez | FTR Honda | Ongetta-Centro Seta | +6.409 |
27 | Brad Binder | Kalex KTM | RW Racing GP | +6.906 |
28 | Miroslav Popov | Mahindra | Mahindra Racing | +7.194 |
29 | M R Rinaldi | Honda | Caretta Technology | +7.364 |
30 | Armando Pontone | Ioda | IodaRacing Project | +7.469 |
31 | Toni Finsterbusch | Honda | Cresto Guide MZ Racing | +7.484 |
32 | Louis Rossi | FTR Honda | Racing Team Germany | +7.513 |
33 | Kenta Fujii | TSR Honda | Technomag-CIP-TSR | +8.253 |
34 | Adrian Martin | FTR Honda | JHK Laglisse | +8.466 |
35 | Luigi Morciano | Ioda | Ioda Team Italia | +8.705 |