The Termas de Rio Hondo circuit welcomed the Moto3 World Championship for the fourth consecutive year this Friday, to kick off the Argentinian GP. The Red Bull KTM Ajo riders completed their first laps of the track in Free Practice, drawing positive conclusions from the work done with the setup of their KTM bikes. Niccolo Antonelli managed to finish the day in fifth position, with his teammate Bo Bendsneyder in seventeenth. As usual at this event, the Moto3 riders were given the task of scrubbing the asphalt by putting in laps in the opening practice session. Although the track was not as dirty as in previous years, this factor coupled with high winds prevented Antonelli and Bendsneyder from riding at their quickest. They completed the first 40 minutes of practice in twelfth -1:52.700- and eighteenth -1:52.883- position, respectively. The conditions on-track improved considerably throughout the day, and this was shown in the times set during FP2. Both Antonelli and Bendsneyder took just two laps to lower their times from the morning, with the Italian making a single stop in the garage -after which he put in his best time of 1:51.093 for fifth place. Bendsneyder twice returned to the box for adjustments, and he clocked his best lap on his third outing -1:51.522, in seventeenth. After the weather-cancelled qualifying session in Qatar a fortnight ago, Saturday in Argentina marks the first timed shootout for the Moto3 class this season. Although rain is forecast, the session is set to take place at 12:35 local time.
POS | Rider | TEAM | Fastest lap |
1 | Joan MIR | Leopard Racing | 1’50.248 |
2 | Romano FENATI | Marinelli Rivacold Snipers | 1’50.812 |
3 | Nicolo BULEGA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’50.931 |
4 | John MCPHEE | British Talent Team | 1’50.940 |
5 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’51.093 |
6 | Juanfran GUEVARA | RBA BOE Racing Team | 1’51.098 |
7 | Darryn BINDER | Platinum Bay Real Estate | 1’51.157 |
8 | Aron CANET | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | 1’51.191 |
9 | Livio LOI | Leopard Racing | 1’51.241 |
10 | Enea BASTIANINI | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | 1’51.329 |
11 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | SIC58 Squadra Corse | 1’51.350 |
12 | Jorge MARTIN | Del Conca Gresini Moto3 | 1’51.358 |
13 | Kaito TOBA | Honda Team Asia | 1’51.444 |
14 | Andrea MIGNO | SKY Racing Team VR46 | 1’51.468 |
15 | Adam NORRODIN | SIC Racing Team | 1’51.487 |
16 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Del Conca Gresini Moto3 | 1’51.489 |
17 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | Red Bull KTM Ajo | 1’51.522 |
18 | Philipp OETTL | Südmetall Schedl GP Racing | 1’51.683 |
19 | Ayumu SASAKI | SIC Racing Team | 1’51.717 |
20 | Maria HERRERA | AGR Team | 1’51.763 |
21 | Marcos RAMIREZ | Platinum Bay Real Estate | 1’51.763 |
22 | Jakub KORNFEIL | Peugeot MC Saxoprint | 1’51.906 |
23 | Jules DANILO | Marinelli Rivacold Snipers | 1’51.966 |
24 | Albert ARENAS | Aspar Mahindra Moto3 | 1’52.044 |
25 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | Aspar Mahindra Moto3 | 1’52.062 |
26 | Tony ARBOLINO | SIC58 Squadra Corse | 1’52.128 |
27 | Manuel PAGLIANI | CIP | 1’52.224 |
28 | Nakarin ATIRATPHUVAPAT | Honda Team Asia | 1’52.413 |
29 | Marco BEZZECCHI | CIP | 1’52.513 |
30 | Gabriel RODRIGO | RBA BOE Racing Team | 1’52.600 |
31 | Patrik PULKKINEN | Peugeot MC Saxoprint | 1’54.167 |
23 NICCOLO ANTONELLI
“I think today we did quite well, because we did a good job ahead of the race with the whole team. Since we don’t know if it will rain tomorrow or not, today it was important to do as many laps as possible -which is what we did. Although I am sure that we have room for improvement, I am very happy with today and about being in the Top 5; this is very good and positive for us.”
64 BO BENDSNEYDER
“This morning the first session started quite well. We were in the Top 10 from the first few laps, but at the end we struggled a little and the other riders improved their times. We worked hard ahead of FP2 and we started really well. After stopping in the pits, we went back out with new tyres; it didn’t go badly, but we were overtaken by several other riders on the timesheets. We are close to the Top 10, but we have to improve the feeling with the front end. Now it’s time to work for tomorrow.”
Source: ajo.fi, motogp.com