Championship leader Joan Mir heads into this afternoon’s qualifying session for the Italian Grand Prix as the man to beat, after the Moto3 championship leader topped final practice at Mugello.
Leopard Racing rider Mir comes into this sixth round of the season 34 points clear in the championship after his nearest challengers dropped out of the running at Le Mans, giving the Spaniard a clean run to his third win of the season.
Keen to extend that advantage further this weekend, Mir jumped to the top of the timesheets with a 1m57.462s, which put him almost two tenths clear of one of home favourite Nicolo Bulega, who impressively went second fastest without the benefit of a tow.
Romano Fenati completed the top three, though only just from British Talent Team rider John McPhee in fourth spot, the Scotsman just 0.017s outside of the Italian’s 1m57.744s at the chequered flag.
Philipp Oettl headed Jorge Martin in fifth spot, with Darryn Binder not far off in seventh as he looks to finally secure that maiden podium finish having been a contender before crashing in the last two grands prix.
Fabio Di Giannantonio ended Friday’s running top of the pile on his Gresini Honda, but was four tenths off the pace this morning in eighth place. SIC58 Honda’s Tony Arbolino was ninth in FP3 after a last-gasp effort of 1m58.157s, with Andrea Migno rounding out the top 10.
Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Bo Bendsneyder, as well as team-mate Niccolo Antonelli, has been testing a new frame from the Austrian marque this weekend, but it is yet to yield any major gains in performance as the Dutchman ended the morning almost nine tenths down in 11th.
Jules Danilo headed the second SIC58 bike of Tatsuki Suzuki, while Aron Canet was a baffling 1.1s off the pace in 14th. Similarly surprisingly off the pace this morning was Juanfran Guevara, who rounded out the top 15.
