Rookie Adrian Fernandez claimed the fastest time of Moto3’s final practice at Le Mans the morning, beating Yuki Kunii, Andrea Migno and John McPhee in another crash-filled session.
With times failing to improve on Friday afternoon, McPhee’s entry to Q2 was secure thanks to his P12 from FP2, Pedro Acosta, however, was not so fortunate.
The lightweight class were met with another bitterly cold Bugatti track as FP3 fired up on Saturday morning, overnight rain having stopped for the time being but leaving a patchy wet surface to navigate for the opening 40-minute session.
Tatsuki Suzuki was the first to succumb to the tricky conditions on the entry to turn 14, as Xavier Artigas took tentative control of the times with a 1’59.307 before himself falling at turn 10 with Andi Farid Izdihar doing likewise at turn 13 moments later.
The session continued with a further fall in the cold and windy conditions as wildcard Takuma Matsuyama suffered a fast crash at turn five, Acosta rising to his now-accustomed place at the head of the standings as he picked up the pace to 1’56.081. Kaito Toba, Filip Salac and Izan Guevara trailed the impressive rookie, despite being between one and two-seconds off his pace, before McPhee slid into second place, 1.3s back.
Acosta continued to improve, this time to 1’55.8, with Kunii and Jaume Masia bettering McPhee before the Scot returned to the runner’s up spot with his sixth lap and the trio’s battle for position intensified. Masia’s next hot lap came undone at turn 14 after a highside flicked the Spaniard from his KTM, with Sergio Garcia suffering the first turn three off of the day shortly after - the 20th of the weekend so far.
With Acosta in the pits and many of his rivals in the gravel, Kunii took charge with a 1’55.603, McPhee and Salac having joined the KTM pairing in the top-five before Ricardo Rossi became the next to fall, this time at turn six.
The mid-session saw limited improvements to the times as riders focused on getting to grips with the wet conditions, progression into the afternoon’s Q2 already set thanks to Friday’s FP2 pace with Acosta’s best of the morning - a 1’55.564 - sitting 13-seconds adrift of the promotion cutoff with the rookie facing the opening Q1 fight.
10 minutes to go saw Carlos Tatay clattered by his Avintia KTM at turn 14 while Kunii, Gabriel Rodrigo, Adrian Fernandez and Niccolò Antonelli advanced to the top-five. McPhee hitting the top with his 13th lap and four minutes remaining before Kunii and Acosta bettered him once again.
A late session crash found Ryusei Yamanaka on the floor at turn 14 with Acosta facing a similar slide at turn four on the next revolution before Izdihar suffered his fourth crash of the weekend, barrel rolling through the space recently vacated by Yamanaka. There was further drama for Artigas with the rookie’s second crash of the morning, the high speed tumble leaving the rookie holding his wrist in the aftermath.
It was another rookie who headed the session in the dying seconds, as Max Racing’s Fernandez pushed his Husqvarna to a 1’54.288, Kunii, Migno, McPhee and Antonelli completing the top-five. Toba, Darryn Binder, Rossi, Acosta and Masia concluded the 10th fastest riders with Salac, Guevara, Rodrigo, Stefano Nepa and Matsuyama claiming the top-15.
