Leopard Racing’s Dennis Foggia has marked himself as an early favourite in Moto3™ at the Gran Premio Gryfyn di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini after prevailing by a margin of 0.382 seconds in FP2. ‘The Rocket’ lived up to his nickname by setting a 1:41.608 around the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli when no one else could go any better than a 1:41.990. That was Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max’s Ayumu Sasaki, the race winner a fortnight ago at the Red Bull Ring, while Tatsuki Suzuki was a full 0.546 seconds off the pace after the second Friday session on the other Leopard Racing Honda.

Foggia had been the pace-setter by a smaller margin in FP1 on a 1:42.442 and he was first to improve that benchmark when he clocked back-to-back 1:42.361 and 1:42.323 with around a quarter of an hour to go in FP2. Suzuki soon made it a Leopard one-two when he set a 1:42.349, before Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) joined the top three on a 1:42.467.

With less than three minutes remaining before the chequered flag, Sasaki went quickest on a 1:41.990 and World Championship leader Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) jumped from 24th to second-fastest on a 1:42.158. However, Foggia hit back with his 1:41.608, following Suzuki across the stripe. Behind that top three of Foggia, Sasaki, and Suzuki is Garcia and another rider who was outside the top 14 Q2 cut-off for much of the session in John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max), who lapped as quickly as a 1:42.278.

Sixth and seventh went to MT Helmets – MSI team-mates Diogo Moreira and Ryusei Yamanaka, while Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) shook off pain from a highside in FP1 to claim eighth at 0.818 seconds off the pace. Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) and Öncü rounded out the top 10, with David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports) last of those within one second of Foggia’s pace. The latter had regrouped from an early spill at Tramonto (Turn 10), while Lorenzo Fellon (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power) also went down during the session.

The fight for Q2 places resumes on Saturday with FP3 from 09:00 (GMT +2) – tune in then!

Moto3™ Top 10 on Friday:
1. Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) – 1:41.608
2. Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) + 0.382
3. Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) + 0.546
4. Sergio Garcia (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.550
5. John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) + 0.670
6. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) + 0.755
7. Ryusei Yamanaka (MT Helmets – MSI) + 0.761
8. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.818
9. Izan Guevara (Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team) + 0.858
10. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 0.859