Jorge Navarro completed an outstanding pre-season for the Moto3 rookies by topping the timesheets in the final test of the winter at Jerez. Navarro, runner-up in last season’s CEV Spanish Moto3 Championship, set the fastest time in one of the few sessions to beat the weather with all three days heavily disrupted by rain in southern Spain.
The very first session of the week saw a brief dry spell with Niccolo Antonelli setting a time good enough to top the day one leaderboard. With the two remaining sessions seeing minimal running due to the rain, the Italian wasn’t challenged until Navarro clocked a 1:48.189, almost a second quicker than the Ongetta rider.
Although he was still some two seconds slower than the benchmark from Jerez last month, Navarro comfortably took the honours overall with conditions only deteriorating from then on. Danny Kent was the only other rider to break into the 1:48s, lifting him to second and ending his encouraging winter on a high, while star rookie Fabio Quartararo pipped Antonelli to third spot.
Three rookies made up the top five with Red Bull Rookies champion Jorge Martin next up on the Mapfre Mahindra, just ahead of last season’s leading debutant Enea Bastianini, while seventh-placed Isaac Vinales set the fastest time of the KTM competitors aboard his Husqvarna-badged machine. Livio Loi sprung a surprise in eighth with the under pressure Romano Fenati taking ninth ahead of Red Bull KTM Ajo’s new recruits, Brad Binder and Miguel Oliveira.
The wet conditions claimed a victim in Ana Carrasco early this morning with the RBA Racing rider suffering a broken collarbone. Surgery will not be required but with the opening practice session of the 2015 season less than a week away, her participation in Qatar must be in serious doubt.
2015 Moto3 Testing: Jerez – March 17-19
| 1 | Jorge Navarro | Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | 1:48.189 |
| 2 | Danny Kent | Honda | Leopard Racing | 1:48.930 |
| 3 | Fabio Quartararo | Honda | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | 1:49.033 |
| 4 | Niccolo Antonelli | Honda | Ongetta-Rivacold | 1:49.055 |
| 5 | Jorge Martin | Mahindra | Mapfre Mahindra Team | 1:49.265 |
| 6 | Enea Bastianini | Honda | Junior Team Gresini Moto3 | 1:49.277 |
| 7 | Isaac Vinales | Husqvarna | Husqvarna Factory Laglisse | 1:49.301 |
| 8 | Livio Loi | Honda | RW Racing GP | 1:49.401 |
| 9 | Romano Fenati | KTM | Sky Racing Team VR46 | 1:49.433 |
| 10 | Brad Binder | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1:49.461 |
| 11 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1:49.508 |
| 12 | John McPhee | Honda | Saxoprint-RTG | 1:49.714 |
| 13 | Hiroki Ono | Honda | Leopard Racing | 1:49.820 |
| 14 | Philipp Oettl | KTM | Schedl GP Racing | 1:49.954 |
| 15 | Andrea Locatelli | Honda | Junior Team Gresini Moto3 | 1:50.048 |
| 16 | Karel Hanika | KTM | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1:50.135 |
| 17 | Alexis Masbou | Honda | Saxoprint-RTG | 1:50.445 |
| 18 | Matteo Ferrari | Mahindra | San Carlo Team Italia | 1:50.523 |
| 19 | Maria Herrera | Husqvarna | Husqvarna Factory Laglisse | 1:50.528 |
| 20 | Stefano Manzi | Mahindra | San Carlo Team Italia | 1:50.578 |
| 21 | Daryn Binder | Mahindra | Outox Reset Drink Team | 1:50.599 |
| 22 | Jakub Kornfeil | KTM | Drive M7 SIC Racing Team | 1:50.628 |
| 23 | Alessandro Tonucci | Mahindra | Outox Reset Drink Team | 1:50.776 |
| 24 | Jules Danilo | Honda | Ongetta-Rivacold | 1:50.811 |
| 25 | Francesco Bagnaia | Mahindra | Mapfre Mahindra Team | 1:51.130 |
| 26 | Efren Vazquez | Honda | Leopard Racing | 1:51.159 |
| 27 | Niklas Ajo | KTM | RBA Racing Team | 1:51.405 |
| 28 | Gabriel Rodrigo | KTM | RBA Racing Team | 1:51.881 |
| 29 | Juanfran Guevara | Mahindra | Mapfre Mahindra Team | 1:51.913 |
| 30 | Tatsuki Suzuki | Mahindra | CIP | 1:52.226 |
| 31 | Zulfahmi Khairuddin | KTM | Drive M7 SIC Racing Team | 1:52.332 |
| 32 | Ana Carrasco | KTM | RBA Racing Team | 1:52.360 |
| 33 | Andrea Migno | KTM | Sky Racing Team VR46 | 1:52.863 |
| 34 | Remy Gardner | Mahindra | CIP | 1:54.007 |
