Italian Enea Bastianini set the pace in the first Moto3 shakedown in Argentina on his Gresini Honda. His time of 1:52.467 was 0.375 faster than Livio Loi in second on his RW Racing Honda. Brad Binder ended the session in third on the Red Bull KTM.
Jorge Navarro took his time to build his pace through the session and was fourth on the Estrella Galicia Honda at the chequered flag. Andrea Locatelli was fifth on the Leopard Racing KTM, with rookie Aron Canet in sixth also on an Estrella Galicia Honda.
A late charge from Maria Herrera put her in seventh place on her MH6 Laglisse KTM, closely followed by Romano Fenati in eighth on the Sky Racing KTM. Fenati had opted to sit in his pit garage for most of the session to save tyres while track conditions improved.
Rounding out the top 10 were Bo Bendsneyder in ninth on the Red Bull KTM and Fabio Quartararo in 10th on the Leopard Racing KTM. Scotland’s John McPhee continues to get to grips with his Peugeot and finished the session in 28th.
On a track that doesn’t see a lot of racing action, conditions were very dusty and a lot of the session was spent laying down rubber and improving grip. Bastianini’s fastest lap was a full four seconds off of the track’s best time of 1:48.461 set by Miguel Oliveira in 2015. Lap times are expected to get a lot quicker throughout the weekend.
