Moncayo trying to find engine solution, Faubel suffers small crash

Third free practice for the opening round of the Moto3 World Championship was the only session to take place today for the minor category riders and there were a host of new names competing at the top of the time sheets after stepping up this season from national championships and the Rookies Cup. Young debutante Romano Fenati joined the likes of the more established Luis Salom, Maverick Viñales and Sandro Cortese in the fight for top spot, with Cortese the fastest tonight (2’08.342) although slightly shy of the pace set by Viñales last night (2.08.160) – probably due to the windier conditions.

BANKIA Aspar rider Héctor Faubel used the session to work on the rear traction problems he encountered yesterday and although he his still not completely satisfied there was an improvement in his feeling and his lap times. His twelfth lap proved to be his fastest as moments later he lost the front in turn six and crashed, bringing his session to an end. His BANKIA Aspar team-mate Alberto Moncayo, meanwhile, worked largely on improving the power delivery of his machine and is looking forward to more track time to achieve his goal tomorrow.

8th Héctor Faubel 2.09.448 (13 laps): “It was a bit strange to just have one session today but during the 40 minutes we had we worked against the clock to solve the problems we encountered yesterday. I don’t have much feel for the front and when I push it folds, which eventually led to a crash that I thankfully walked away from. Everything else is okay, we’re finding our pace gradually and closing the gap to the top but we need to keep working.”

18th Alberto Moncayo 2.10.132 (14 laps): “It is more difficult to get the job done in one session because if you have any kind of setback there is no time to put it right. We tried some things to get the engine running a little smoother today and to find some more top speed but it didn’t work out and there was no time to react. Forty minutes didn’t feel like much tonight but I gave my best and the team worked well so we have to remain calm and focus on the two sessions remaining tomorrow to get things done. The chassis is working well so it’s just a case of finding something from the engine.”

Source: Aspar Team