Moto3™ action returned at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on Friday for the Gran Premio dell'Emilia-Romagna, just two weeks following the San Marino Grand Prix. The nicknamed ‘Misano 2’ round, the final one in Europe before the flyaways, replaced the Grand Prix of Kazakhstan. The rain from the past days left a tricky and dirty track this morning, drying, although the sun returned in Misano for the afternoon. Daniel Holgado set up the pace, finishing second fastest of the day, while rookie Jacob Roulstone would have hoped for a better start, suffering two intense crashes in both sessions. Luckily, he is ok and will be ready to return to the action on Saturday.

With the fresh news of a contract in Moto2™ next year, Spaniard Daniel Holgado began the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix knowing that just seven rounds remained for him in the lightweight class, so why not make them all memorable? In the morning Free Practice, the Red Bull GASGAS Tech3 rider, who finished second at the San Marino Grand Prix, measured the tricky track conditions without taking unnecessary risks, and he rode eleven laps with a best in 1’55.639 that placed him 16th. Later on, the conditions became much better, and times went down for all riders. Holgado’s late 1’41.181 meant that he finished second fastest of the day, 0.110 seconds away from today’s best time set by Adrian Fernandez. The #96 should logically head to qualifying 2 tomorrow, as he hopes to get himself a strong grid position.

Rookie Jacob Roulstone did not quite have the ideal opening day for round 2 in Misano, suffering two crashes, both in Free Practice and Practice 1. It was a slow start to the day with tricky track conditions, but Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s aussie got trapped by the wet as his Free Practice came to an early end following a highside in T6. Luckily, Jacob was unhurt and able to return on track later on in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the #12 suffered a second crash in P1, this time in the final corner, forcing the red flag to be waived with the track needing cleaning. The Australian was not able to return on track as he headed to the medical center. Rider unhurt and all good! The action will be back tomorrow at 8:40 local time (GMT+2), with Practice 2, followed later on with the qualifying sessions.