Daniel Holgado set the fastest time in the Moto3 practice sessions for the Malaysian Grand Prix, leading the third session this morning in Sepang – in which only one rider did not improve his time from yesterday.
After the first flying laps, Jaume Masiá (Leopard Racing/Honda) – who had set the fastest time on Friday – was in the lead but was soon overtaken by David Alonso (Gaviota GasGas Aspar). The Colombian was then passed by his teammate Ryusei Yamanaka.
After about 12 minutes, the Japanese rider was dethroned by Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) when he completed the best lap of the practice sessions in 2m11.139s. Several riders improved their times until the end, unlike the Spaniard. However, the closest one was Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo), 0.225s behind.
Masiá finished in third, followed by Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna IntactGP) and Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets-MSi/KTM) in the top five. Further down, Riccardo Rossi (SIC58 Squadra Corse/Honda) secured the last direct spot in the second qualifying phase, beating José Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) by just 99 thousandths. Among the other riders who will have to go through Q1 is Alonso, who was only 19th in the sessions.
P3 timesheet:
Combined standings P1 + P2 + P3: