Romano Fenati was back on record-breaking form as Moto3 practice resumed at Silverstone on Saturday morning, the Husqvarna rider setting his second breathtaking lap at the BritishGP.
Outstanding 2’10.619 pace left the Sterilgarda Max racer half-a-second clear of second place man Ayumu Sasaki, with Darryn Binder completing the top-3 as free practice drew to a close for the lightweight class. The South African’s Petronas teammate, John McPhee, securing his progression into the Q2 shootout from seventh thanks to his final 2’11.978 lap.
The KTM’s were out in force as FP3 got going around the cool 6km British circuit. Sasaki taking over from his Tech3 teammate Deniz Öncü in the initial standings before the Turk fell foul of turn 14. Easily brushed off, he was back up and running almost instantly, sitting seventh as the faster times began to register.
Binder took charge after 10-minutes on track, Sasaki holding second from Filip Salac and Tatsuki Suzuki, with Jaume Masia and Pedro Acosta joining the top-six. McPhee circulated in 11th as the session warmed up before promoting himself to ninth with his fifth effort. Dennis Foggia was also in a charge as the Leopard rider went top, albeit still two-seconds away from Friday’s fastest time.
Gabriel Rodrigo and Salac came together at Brooklands as the Argentinean wiped the luckless Pruestal rider out at turn 16. Sergio Garcia the next to fall, this time at turn nine.
The halfway stage saw Andrea Migno advance the pace with a 2’12.123 to lead the session, but still sevens-tenths shy of Fenati’s benchmark. The pack waiting till the final stages before mounting their time attacks.
The closing 10-minutes allowed Foggia to improve on his overall best, 2’11.609 bringing the pace ever closer to his fellow Italian’s target with Fenati all but replicating yesterday’s efforts in second. Xavi Artigas was up to fourth before the final runs, Stefano Nepa, Kaito Toba, Lorenzo Fellon and Max Kofler taking their places in the top-10 as the practice neared its frantic conclusion.
And frantic it was as the entire field hit the track with five-minutes to go, the top-14 firmly in their sights. With the pack bunched together, one moment from Acosta looked to upset the group around him, the rest looking to dawdle once again as the penultimate minute counted down.
Fenati the only rider looking anywhere near challenging his own dominant pace, with a blistering 2’10.619, to take a second circuit record in as many days.
A late crash found Salac back in the gravel at turn 12, opposing fortunes allowing McPhee into Q2 with a lap worthy of seventh at the flag - ninth overall. Sasaki, Binder, Jeremy Alcoba and Foggia completed FP3’s top-five with Niccolò Antonelli’s Friday pace sitting him fifth overall at the close of practice.
Once again, championship leader Acosta was left to fight his way through from Q1, after completing the session 15th, just 0.012s adrift of the needed time.
