Loi not the fastest today, but still fastest overall

Livio Loi wasn’t the fastest in the third free practice for the Qatar GP, but the lap time RW Racing GP’s rider set in FP2 was unbeaten. Loi thus still holds the circuit best lap of the Losail International Circuit for Moto3 with his 2.05,832. The 2.06,170 he set today was still good enough for third, or the first row in terms of qualifying.

That is the goal for Loi and RW Racing GP for tomorrow: a front row start. “We know Livio has the pace for that,” RW Racing GP team manager Jarno Janssen underlined. “We had Livio riding in ‘safe mode’ today in FP3 and tried a few things in saving tyres, but he still was remarkably fast, so no worries about a third time.”

The 18 year old Belgian was leading the charts until 28 seconds before the flag, when Fabio Quartararo and Brad Binder, both thanks to a slipstream, ducked under his 2.06,170. Loi made a final attempt, but his 2.06,302 was just not good enough for a hattrick of three best times in a row.

Qualifying tomorrow will be very important to ensure Loi will have a good starting position for the race. Qatar is known for close racing. Last year for example the first nine riders were separated by less than a second and the hustle is always chaotic. Janssen: “The race is the race. For now our eyes are set on qualifying. Depending on the result of that we’ll make a strategy for the race.”

Livio Loi - 3 (2.06,170)

“Also today was another good day. Of course I would have preferred to be on top again, but third isn’t bad at all. Especially since we were saving tyres for qualifying and for the race. I wasn’t really pushing to the limits today, but still the lap times are good. We know the pace is there and I feel confident for tomorrow.”