The Moto3 class faced a quiet and frustrating morning for their final free practice outing at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit as damp air and light rain created unfavourable conditions.
The track fell quiet after just 12 minutes of action with John McPhee and Albert Arenas falling foul of the changing weather and unable to set a time worthy of Q2 promotion.
Arenas had set the early benchmark as the hopeful FP3 fired into action, Romano Fenati, Deniz Öncü, Tatsuki Suzuki and Dennis Foggia swapping positions behind the title-leader as the session found its rhythm. McPhee circulated strongly in sixth after the first 10 minutes but with a change to the weather, the track promptly went quiet as the pack returned to the pits with light rain threatening in the air.
Öncü’s 1’39.399 lap headed the times at the halfway stage, with the Turkish rider currently safe as far as Q2 qualification was concerned but with 1’38.753 the minimum required to break into the promotion zone, and with Arenas, Binder and McPhee still, so far, adrift, the second half proved a tense and challenging prospect for a number of riders as they waited for conditions to improve.
The track, however, remained empty for the remainder of the session as the rain finally began to fall but not strongly enough for consistent conditions - Suzuki the only rider to take to the circuit in the final minute, circulating tentatively as he analysed the conditions ahead of qualifying. The chequered flag flying without any improvements to the times and the Championship-leader heading for Q1.
