Kent In Commanding Form Ahead of Qualifying

Jun 26, 2015
2 min read

Track conditions were a little colder this morning as the Moto3 field headed out for their final free practice session ahead of this afternoon's qualifying session for round 8 of the 2015 season. Conditions did improve as the session wore on and the riders were able to push.

Danny Kent heads into qualifying in the best shape having topped yet another session this weekend. The Leopard Racing rider posted a fastest ever lap of 1:41.558 in the closing minutes of the session, cementing his intentions for pole position later today.

He may have a challenge on his hands, though, from SKY Racing VR46 KTM's Romano Fenati who posted a lap of 1:41.656 right at the end of the 40-minutes. The KTM seems to be working very well here, so the Italian may be a good bet for success in the race tomorrow. More importantly for Fenati is that he is switched on straight away, so a good qualifying is on the cards.

Jorge Navarro completed the top 3 again for the EG 0,0 Honda team. The young Spaniard has never seen this track before, so to be troubling the top 3 again is mightily impressive. Team-mate Fabio Quartararo, who is in the same position as his team-mate, ended up 6th having topped the time sheets at one point.

Alexis Masbou gave Racing Team Germany a glimmer of hope after posting the 4th fastest time of the morning with a 1:42.244. He and the team desperately need a good result this weekend having endured a nightmare since the Frenchman's win in Qatar all the way back at the end of March.

Kent's team-mate Efren Vazquez rounded out the top 5 with a 1:42.295.

Karel Hanika is quietly going about his business in 7th, but team-mate Miguel Oliveira had a troublesome session. The Portuguese rider had a mechanical problem at the start of FP3 and lost some valuable track time. He was able to rejoin but only to 9th.

Jorge Martin completed the top 10 on the Mapfre Mahindra.

FP3 Top 10:

1st Danny Kent, Leopard Racing Honda, 1:41.558

2nd Romano Fenati, SKY Racing Team VR46 KTM, 1:41.656

3rd Jorge Navarro, EG 0,0 Honda, 1:41.901

4th Alexis Masbou, Saxoprint-RTG Honda, 1:42.244

5th Efren Vazquez, Leopard Racing Honda, 1:42.295

6th Fabio Quartararo, EG 0,0 Honda, 1:42.327

7th Karel Hanika, Red Bull KTM Ajo, 1:42.513

8th Niklas Ajo, SIC Racing Team KTM, 1:42.551

9th Miguel Oliveira, Red Bull KTM Ajo, 1:42.602

10th Jorge Martin, Mapfre Mahindra Team, 1:42.645