Moto3 Jerez, Free Practice 1: Fenati at the top

The first Moto3 free practice session on the Jerez track, where the Spanish GP of the MotoGP will take place on Sunday, saw Romano Fenati establish himself as the best rider in the Cenerentola class. The session was interrupted one minute from the end due to a heavy downpour of rain which prevented any activity on the track with slick tyres.

The Italian from Team Italia confirmed himself in very good form and in his second outing with the Moto3 he achieved the best time in FP1 of the Spanish GP. At Jerez Fenati lapped in 1'49”760 and preceded Maverick Viñales by two and a half tenths with the FTR of the Bluesens Avintia theme. The winner of the Qatar GP precedes his title rival Sandro Cortese, German from Red Bull KTM Ajo; for him a delay from Fenati of 478 thousandths. Fourth place for Miguel Oliveira, Portuguese of Estrella Galicia, eight and a half tenths from the top, then the Spaniards Luis Salom of RW Racing and Hector Faubel of Bankia Aspar close the Top 6 with essentially the same time, just under second.

However, Faubel was the victim of a bad fall six minutes from the end of practice: there is talk of a fibula fracture for him, which would compromise this start to the season. Behind him were two Red Bull Ajo drivers, Arthur Sissi and Danny Kent, over 1" behind. Finally, the Czech Jakub Kornfeil of the Ongetta-Centro Seta team and Alberto Moncayo, Faubel's teammate, close the Top 10. Among the Italians, noteworthy is the 13th place of the 16-year-old Niccolò Antonelli with the Gresini Moto3, followed in 16th place by Alessandro Tonucci of Team Italia FMI and in 27th place by Simone Grotzkyj of Ambrogio Newxt racing, a slight improvement compared to the race in Qatar. Last place instead for Luigi Morciano, who is unable to solve his problems with his Iodaracing.