MotoGP Valencia: Leopard locks out Moto3 Friday times

Leopard’s Tatsuki Suzuki headed teammate Dennis Foggia in the Moto3 times as practice concluded in Valencia on Friday.

Moto3 Champion Izan Guevara sat third by the close of day one, just 0.066s shy of Suzuki’s 1’39.467 target with CFMoto’s Carlos Tatay and MT Helmets’ Diogo Moreira rounding out the top five a mere hundredth of a second back.

A bright, sunny but fresh Circuit Ricardo Tormo greeted the lightweight class as action commenced for the final round of 2022. Sic58’s Riccardo Rossi took charge of the initial times with a 1’41.101 with one of three Rookie of the Year candidates, David Muñoz circulating second. His rival for the title, KTM’s Daniel Holgado, quickly bettered overall before Sterilgarda Husqvarna’s Ayumu Sasaki arrived with a 1’40.801.

Foggia set the 1’40.3 pace after ten minutes on track, with the previous two leaders improving to retain the top three. John McPhee heading the British contingent from 13th in the standings with VisionTrack’s recently confirmed duo Scott Ogden and Josh Whatley circulating in tandem ten places behind.

Tech3 KTM’s Deniz Öncü swept up to fourth as the second half began closely trailed by Sergio Garcia as the GasGas Aspar rider began his final fight for second overall in the 2022 standings. Ryusei Yamanaka heading countryman Tatsuki Suzuki, Diogo Moreira, Jaume Masia and Adrian Fernandez in the top ten with twelve minutes remaining.

Sasaki took charge as the session counted down, just 0.027s ahead of the Italian. Teammate McPhee into the top ten and half a second off the outright pace, in ninth, with a 1’40.901. Ivan Ortola promoted the MTA KTM up to third with seven minutes left on the clock before the Spaniard refined his pace once again next time around.

Foggia returned