With Practice checked off at the Lusail International Circuit, the pressure is on as attentions turn to qualifying for the Moto3™ runners and riders. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) asserted his dominance on the field after putting down a 2:05.843 in Practice 3 to top the timesheets on the combined timings. The Turk is looking menacing ahead of the Grand Prix after finding his form right from the off at the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar. David Alonso (GASGAS Aspar Team) became well acquainted with the Lusail gravel trap on Friday, but found form late on in Saturday's Practice 3 with his final flyer seeing him jump up to 2nd place at the sight of the chequered flag. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) also found form on Saturday, the Spaniard finished 0.224s away from the top spot to take P3 on the combined timings.
Taking top spot and finding even more time on his last lap! 👏@Denizoncu53 ends #Moto3 Practice as the target rider! 🔝#QatarGP 🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/HQbLJKq2nG
— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) November 18, 2023
With a championship on the line this weekend, Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) has his sights set on beating Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) to wrap up the title on Sunday. The pair were locked together after the three practice sessions with just 0.032s splitting Sasaki in P4 and Masia in P5.
Behind the big hitters, there was a manic battle to grab a spot inside the top 14, and an all-important place in Qualifying 2. Romano Fenati (Rivacold Snipers Team) bagged himself a Q2 spot after a strong showing in Practice 3 saw him consistently in the top spots. The Italian took 6th place in the end ahead of Vicente Perez (BOE Motorsports) who also enjoyed a positive P3 session. Next up was Joel Kelso (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP) in 8th who got the better of Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and Diogo Morieria (MT Helmets - MSI) who rounded out the top ten. The final four Q2 spots went to Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team), Xavier Artigas (CFMoto Racing PruestelGP), Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo), and Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team).
Next up for Moto3™ is qualifying at 17:50 local time (GMT +3), in the meantime you can keep up to date with everything from the Qatar Airways Grand Prix of Qatar on motogp.com.
Top 10
| 1 | Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 2:05.843 |
| 2 | David Alonso (GASGAS Aspar Team) | +0.206 |
| 3 | Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) | +0.224 |
| 4 | Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) | +0.439 |
| 5 | Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) | +0.475 |
| 6 | Romano Fenati (Rivacold Snipers Team) | +0.727 |
| 7 | Vicente Perez (BOE Motorsports) | +0.744 |
| 8 | Joel Kelso (CFMOTO Racing PruestelGP) | +0.792 |
| 9 | Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) | +0.846 |
| 10 | Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) | +0.860 |
FULL RESULTS!
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