John McPhee returned to the head of the Moto3 times as Saturday’s preparations for the Algarve GP continued at Portimao.
The Petronas SRT man produced a 1’47.775 lap to outpace title challenger Dennis Foggia at the close of FP3, Tatsuki Suzuki following for third as Romano Fenati’s Friday pace held fast for fourth.
Blue skies, sunshine but strong winds greeted the paddock as Moto3 kicked off practice on Saturday morning.
McPhee led the way after the opening laps registered, Foggia heading a returning Sergio Garcia and his title rival Pedro Acosta, with the second Petronas of Darryn Binder completing the top five.
Acosta took charge as the pace improved from fellow rookie Izan Guevara, the GasGas rider facing a long lap penalty in Sunday’s race after irresponsible riding during Friday’s FP2. Jaume Masia advancing to fourth, then third, as Binder claimed the lead next time around. While McPhee spent the majority of the mid-session back in the garage.
Andrea Migno sat second as the second half developed, the pace still almost a second down on Friday’s fastest with Fenati dominant overall.
Acosta became the first to challenge as the KTM Ajo rider circulated seven-hundredths shy with his ninth lap of the morning before improving, but still short of the target, once again.
Binder advanced to second from Suzuki and Foggia with 12 minutes to go. Stand in riders Joel Kelso and Daniel Holgado taking seventh and ninth respectively in the session to put themselves inside Q2 contention overall as McPhee remained adrift.
A late session lull saw the entirety of the pack waiting in the pits before the final action ignited with six minutes on the clock. McPhee was the first to strike with a 1’48.070 to head the times from Acosta and Foggia, and sit third overall, before the second flying laps began.
A train of Moto3 bikes swept across the line with the Scot maintaining command, Foggia following for second and Suzuki third as the trio became the first to break into 1’47 pace. 1’47.775 the new benchmark from the Petronas SRT.
McPhee took the session and the overall standings as the flag dropped from the commanding trio, Guevara striking for fourth with his final effort to demote Filip Salac for fifth. Acosta failed to improve on his earlier time in the final run, sitting sixth at he close of FP3 and seventh in the combined times as Fenati’s Friday target remained enough for fourth overall.
Ayumu Sasaki, Migno, Binder, Garcia, Adrian Fernandez and Xavi Artigas completed the final FP3 high fliers with Masia maintaining his Q2 place due to yesterday’s effort. Niccolò Antonelli the first to miss out and face Q1.
