GasGas Aspar’s Izan Guevara was back on form at the TT Circuit Assen on Saturday morning as the sun returned for Moto3 FP3.
Teammate Sergio Garcia joined the top three with Leopard’s Dennis Foggia splitting the pair, just 0.035s off the youngster’s 1’41.526 best. Max Racing’s John McPhee securing Q2 promotion from 13th.
Saturday morning brought a clean sheet for the World Championship as bright and clear conditions saw Friday’s efforts mostly null and void. A relief for some, namely Leopard’s Dennis Foggia, but disappointing for others.
BOE’s David Muñoz was out to prove Friday’s masterclass was more than just a wet weather one-off as he led the initial times from the outset. Guevara narrowly bettered the rookie with his first showing but just a tenth split the pair as the session fired up.
Ten minutes dispatched and VisionTrack’s Scott Ogden sat as the gatekeeper to promotion with a 1’43.543 lap time before McPhee demoted his countryman with an identical effort. Josh Whatley suffering the first crash of the morning at turn eight with Adrian Fernandez the victim of turn five moments later.
Guevara continued to command the times as the session continued. Muñoz remaining in check from second, 0.046s behind, with Leopard’s Tatsuki Suzuki and Sterilgarda Husqvarna’s Ayumu Sasaki in the top four. The quartet shuffled next time around as Sasaki led from Suzuki before Guevara split the pair. Munoz in the pits as he dropped from fourth to 13th.
Sic58’s Ricardo Rossi joined the front runners, in fourth, as the first half wound down. CIP Green Power’s Kaito Toba, heading series leader Garcia, CFMoto’s Carlos Tatay and Rivacold Snipers’ Andrea Migno as McPhee and Foggia completed the top ten. The Leopard rider striking for fourth as his teammate took charge overall as the halfway stage approached.
Garcia joined Guevara in the top four with his tenth lap of the morning. Suzuki’s 1’42.049 holding court out front with one-second covering the promotion one down to the Tech3 pairing of Deniz Öncü and Fernandez. Muñoz displacing the latter as he returned to contention in 13th, 0.05s adrift of McPhee.
Foggia made progress in the top three as he circulated just over a tenth shy of his teammate before improving to take charge by 0.12s. The Italian impressing with a 1’41.820 before a yellow flag curtailed another red sector flyer.
Lorenzo Fellon endured a high speed highside at turn eight on the second SIC58 machine as the final ten minutes began. KTM’s Daniel Holgado and MT Helmets’ Ryusei Yamanaka joining Toba on the fringes of the danger zone with Tatay and Ogden the first adrift of promotion with six minutes to go.
Garcia was the first to strike as the frantic five minutes fired up. 1’41.771 leading the way as the main pack’s efforts began to register. Migno crashing out at turn three from eleventh with a nervous wait now ahead.
Sasaki hot the top with a 1’41.6 next time around as Muñoz slotting in to third. Öncü in the danger zone as Elia Bartolini became the next to fall with Holgado following suit into the final chicane under yellow flags.
McPhee improved to ninth with his final effort of the session as the chequered flag came out. Guevara claiming the overall honours with a 1’41.526 from Foggia, Garcia and Muñoz. Suzuki, Sasaki and Yamanaka holding fifth to seventh with the Scotsman initially promoted to eighth due to a lap deletion - Stefano Nepa the unlucky recipient as the MTA rider dropped to 15th - before his own best was cleared due to the yellow flags, leaving him 13th. Rossi, Öncü, Fellon, Jaume Masia, Joel Kelso and Migno secured the final promotions with Ogden facing Q1 from 22nd.
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