Darryn Binder maintained his control on the overall Moto3 times after a difficult FP3 prevented improvements. 

Fierce winds impeded the final free practice with Jason Dupasquier claiming the session glory in the dying minutes from Dennis Foggia and John McPhee. 

Saturday began with sanctions for eight Moto3 riders as Pedro Acosta, Romano Fenati, Dennis Foggia, Sergio Garcia, Stefano Nepa, Deniz Öncü and Riccardo Rossi were all penalised for their FP2 antics. Found to be riding slow and causing a disturbance in the final sector during the closing moments of Friday evening’s session, FIM stewards issued pitlane starts for Sunday’s race - Xavier Artigas having also received a double long lap penalty for his part in McPhee’s crash in the opening race. 

The on-track action saw Petronas back in control as McPhee led Binder in the opening times, 2’07.557 the early benchmark after the Scot’s fourth lap. Andrea Migno, Dupasquier and Jaume Masia were the next fastest riders, however, times were almost three-seconds off the rapid evening pace from FP2. 

Foggia took charge on his ninth lap of the afternoon, a tenth and a half ahead of McPhee’s effort, as teammate Artigas advanced the second Leopard into third. Garcia the only other rider so far to challenge, finding sixth moments before. 

A strong but inconsistent wind dominated the final practice session laying dust across the Losail surface and adding a further change to conditions as the riders attempted to fine-tune their set-ups. The entire class choosing to spend a considerable amount of the closing stages in pitlane before the bikes fired up once again for the final five minutes. 

A last-ditch effort saw Dupasquier rise to the top with a 2’07.244 as the pack battled the blustery conditions, Niccolò Antonelli joining the party in fifth seconds later before being instantly demoted as Izan Guevara slid ahead to fourth. 

As the flag dropped, the session concluded with the Pruestal rider maintaining control from Foggia, McPhee, Guevara, Artigas and Antonelli. Binder closed FP3 seventh in the session but easily preserving his overall best due to the prevailing conditions. Garcia, Migno and Acosta rounded out the top-10 with the rookie saving an impressive moment as the session drew to a close.