Qatar Moto2 & Moto3 Friday FP Results

2012 Moto2 & Moto3

After completing their first two practice sessions on day one Thursday, the Moto2 and Moto3 classes were out on track just once on Friday for their third and final outing before Saturday’s qualifying.

In Moto2 Thomas Lüthi’s (Interwetten Paddock) strong form rolled on in FP3 as the Swiss rider topped the timesheet with the fastest lap of the weekend so far. Lüthi’s time of 2’00.479 meant he completed a clean sweep in all three Moto2 practice sessions, after leading the first and second outings.

Pons 40 HP Tuenti team-mates Pol Espargaró and Esteve Rabat were also in the mood for setting fast times, as the former clocked in at just 0.040s off Lüthi. Espargaró was the only other rider under 2’01” in the session, with Rabat in third posting a best effort of 2’01.118.

Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team) was fourth in the order in 2’01.230, with Italians Claudio Corti (Italtrans), Simone Corsi (Came IodaRacing Project) and Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) closely grouped from fifth to seventh.

Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing) took a step forward and was the last rider within one second of Lüthi’s scorching lap, and Marc Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) and Alex de Angelis (NGM Mobile Forward Racing) completed the top 10.

In Moto3, Sandro Cortese (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was the fastest rider on Friday as the German rider posted a best time of 2’08.342 to top the timesheet in the 40-minute run, and he pulled off a great save at the end to avoid tarnishing his session with a late crash.

Despite being the best of the session Cortese’s time was still not the fastest of the three practices combined. That lap remained Maverick Viñales’ (Blusens Avintia) effort from FP2 (2’08.160) which the young Spaniard set on Thursday.

Second to Cortese in FP3 was Italian rookie Romano Fenati (Team Italia FMI), who continued to generate excitement about his World Championship debut with a lap of 2’08.376, just 0.034s off top spot. Luis Salom (RW Racing GP) completed the top three at a tenth-of-a-second off Cortese, with Viñales fourth in the final session and just 0.135s off P1.

Miguel Oliveira (Estrella Galicia 0’0), Danny Kent (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Alex Rins (Estrella Galicia 0’0) were the final three riders within a second of the top time in the practice, and Héctor Faubel (Bankia Aspar Team), Alexis Masbou (Caretta Technology) and another newcomer Niccolò Antonelli (San Carlo Honda Gresini Moto3) completed the top 10.

The on-track action resumes at 6 p.m. local time on Saturday when the Moto3 class qualifies, followed by Moto2 at 6:55 p.m. and MotoGP at 7:55 p.m.

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