Moto3 Qatar FP1: Rookie Pedro Acosta leads FP1
Pedro Acosta has opened his debut Moto3 season in fine style, taking P1 overall in FP1.
Well, we knew he’d be fast but wow! Rookie Pedro Acosta leads the Moto3 timesheets in his first-ever official outing as a Grand Prix rider, he comes into the class following 6 consecutive wins in the Red Bull Rookies in 2020 as well as being the champion and instantly has made an impact, impressing in testing and now taking P1 in his first session.
It was a slower session than normal as the Moto3 riders clean up the dirty track, it gave many riders a chance to work out their setups and run in some unfavourable tyres to take them out of their allocation.
The rookie Acosta took P1 with some time remaining in the session before improving it majorly on his final lap, bringing Darryn Binder up with him. The South African rider was able to set a time worthy of P2 in the session after running with his teammate McPhee and Acosta gaining a slipstream from the duo on the final lap with Binder placing in P2 and McPhee in P5.
In P3 stood Ryusei Yamanaka, the Japanese rider actually replaced Acosta in the Prustel team as the rookie champ had already signed a deal with the team for the 2021 season before it was withdrawn and Acosta was promoted to the Red Bull KTM Ajo squad. Jaume Masia has made his return to KTM in 2021 and is the teammate to Acosta in the Red Bull KTM Ajo squad and performed incredibly well during the Qatar test and set a lap time that was 0.300 faster than the lap record previously held by Aron Canet, the time was unofficial but will be the benchmark for many riders clocking in at 2:04.263, Masia finished the FP1 session in P4.
Rocking that bright pink livery in P6 is Andrea Migno, a Moto3 veteran who makes the change to Honda this year, he needs a solid season this year in Moto3 given he is currently 25 years old given the level of talent in the FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship is improving year on year with teams looking to the future.
Another young talent who has impressed is Jason Dupasquier, the ex-Red Bull Rookie is in his second season in the class and made a big step in testing, he finished in P7 overall ahead of Kaito Toba and Stefano Nepa. Nepa is yet another incredibly talented rider who could be a big surprise this year.
In P10 sits Izan Guevara who is another unbelievable talent, the rookie comes into the class following two back-to-back titles as a rookie and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down on his meteoric rise into the Moto3 class, another rookie Lorenzo Fellon finished in P15 as Xavier Artigas places in P27 for the Leopard team.
Full Results:
Featured image – Red Bull KTM Ajo
