Moto3

McPhee Goes Quickest In The Wet At Valencia

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John McPhee sprung a surprise in Friday Practice ahead of the Valencian Grand Prix by topping the timesheets in mixed conditions, leading a Caretta Technology 1-2. The Briton switched to slicks in the closing minutes to go fastest on a 1:50.503, edging out teammate Jack Miller who’d taken a similar gamble.

As has so often been the case in 2012, Friday was dominated by the weather with rain falling throughout FP1. Miguel Oliveira set the pace but conditions were much improved in the afternoon and Jonas Folger soon overtook the Portuguese overall. Oliveira briefly regained the lead but Folger was in dominant mood, pulling out a lead of three quarters of a second.

The Aspar rider looked set to remain unbeaten but the decision from others to try out the slick tyres saw him demoted in the final minute. Alex Marquez was the first to go quicker on the Ambrogio Suter Honda but McPhee pulled out half a second on the pair of them, breaking into the 1:50s.

Jack Miller had been setting red sector times on the second Caretta bike but came up short by 0.027s. The Italian team weren’t concerned by that though as they celebrated a rare 1-2, even if it was only Friday afternoon. Marquez finished third ahead of Brad Binder who snuck ahead of Folger while Maverick Vinales, still a contender for the runner-up spot in the championship, sixth quickest.

Zulfahmi Khairuddin was seventh on the leading factory KTM with Moto3 champion Sandro Cortese eighth. Future Moto2 teammates Louis Rossi and Danny Kent completed the top ten while Danny Webb impressed on the uncompetitive Mahindra, finishing the day in thirteenth.

 

 Moto3 GP Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana: Combined Friday Practice Times
Pos Rider Motorcycle Team Time/Gap
1  John McPhee KRP Honda Caretta Technology 1:50.503
2  Jack Miller Honda Caretta Technology +0.027
3  Alex Marquez Suter Honda Ambrogio Next Racing +0.684
4  Brad Binder Kalex KTM RW Racing GP +0.690
5  Jonas Folger Kalex KTM Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 +0.835
6  Maverick Vinales FTR Honda Blusens Avintia +0.880
7  Zulfahmi Khairuddin KTM AirAsia-Sic-Ajo +1.207
8  Sandro Cortese KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo +1.285
9  Louis Rossi FTR Honda Racing Team Germany +1.352
10  Danny Kent KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo +1.647
11  Adrian Martin FTR Honda JHK t-shirt Laglisse +1.746
12  Luis Salom Kalex KTM RW Racing GP +1.842
13  Danny Webb Mahindra Mahindra Racing +1.998
14  Miguel Oliveira Suter Honda Estrella Galicia 0,0 +2.010
15  Arthur Sissis KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo +2.171
16  Jakub Kornfeil FTR Honda Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta +2.420
17  Alan Techer TSR Honda Technomag-CIP-TSR +2.433
18  Efren Vazquez FTR Honda JHK t-shirt Laglisse +2.440
19  Hector Faubel FTR Honda Andalucía JHK t-shirt Laglisse +2.493
20  Giulian Pedone Suter Honda Ambrogio Next Racing +2.559
21  Alessandro Tonucci FTR Honda Team Italia FMI +2.560
22  J.F. Guevara (W) FTR Honda Wild Wolf BST +2.630
23  Romano Fenati FTR Honda Team Italia FMI +2.702
24  Niklas Ajo KTM TT Motion Events Racing +2.966
25  Alex Rins Suter Honda Estrella Galicia 0,0 +2.973
26  Philipp Oettl (W) Kalex KTM HP Moto Kalex +3.541
27  Josep Rodriguez FGR Honda Moto FGR +3.853
28  Niccolo Antonelli FTR Honda San Carlo Gresini Moto3 +3.915
29  Luca Amato Kalex KTM Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 +4.007
30  Toni Finsterbusch Honda Cresto Guide MZ Racing +4.156
31  Luigi Morciano Ioda Ioda Team Italia +4.959
32  Miroslav Popov Mahindra Mahindra Racing +5.106
33  Kenta Fujii TSR Honda Technomag-CIP-TSR +5.375
34  Isaac Vinales FTR Honda Ongetta-Centro Seta +5.484
35  Armando Pontone Ioda IodaRacing Project +5.750

 

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