Angel Piqueras led Moto3 World Championship practice Friday afternoon at Phillip Island, in Australia. Piqueras used his Pirelli-shod Leopard Racing Honda to lap the 2.76-mile (4.44 km) track in 1:44.949, which led the field of 26 riders.
The 2024 Moto3 World Champion, David Alonso was second-best with a time of 1:45.991 on his Gaviota Aspar Team CFMOTO.
Piqueras’ teammate, Adrian Fernandez claimed the third and final spot on the front with a lap time of 1:47.062.
Moto3 classification Practice 1
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Piqueras powers to P1 ahead of Alonso at Phillip Island. The Spaniard topped the timesheets in tricky conditions ahead of Alonso and Fernandez.
Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing) started the Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix strong, securing the top spot on a tricky opening day of action at Phillip Island. The #36 set a 1:44.949 to secure a 1.042s advantage over newly crowned Moto3 World Champion David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team), who claimed P2 at the end of proceedings. The Colombian set a strong pace, setting just 14 laps throughout Practice 1, finishing the day in front of Adrian Fernandez, who completed a strong day for the Leopard Racing squad and Honda.
It was a tricky start to proceedings at Phillip Island, with Free Practice getting underway in wet conditions. Alonso sealed top honours on Friday morning, bagging a confidence-boosting start to the weekend. Once Practice 1 got underway, conditions looked to have improved, with Piqueras bagging the top spot early on. Piqueras continued to build throughout the session, setting the best time on his eighth lap, which would be good enough to hold onto P1.
Securing fourth was David Almansa (Kopron Rivacold Snipers Team), who was a further 0.049s adrift from a spot in the top three. The #22 looked confident as conditions improved, setting a 1:47.111 and placing ahead of his teammate Matteo Bertelle (Kopron Rivacold Snipers Team). The Italian ended Friday in front of David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports), with the #64 grabbing sixth after having some early drama with Fernandez in FP1. Meanwhile, Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) took seventh ahead of Stefano Nepa (LEVELUP – MTA) in eighth.
Further back, Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports) rounded out the top 10 in what is an important weekend for Kelso, aiming for a great result in front of his home crowd. Noah Dettwiler (CIP Green Power) took 11th in front of Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia), who suffered a crash at Turn 4. The #72 ended the opening day of action in front of Tatsuki Suzuki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) and CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team’s Joel Esteban, who claimed the final spot inside a vital top 14.
Set your alarm clocks and tune in as Moto3™ returns on Saturday at 08:30 local time (UTC +11) before a vital qualifying begins at 12:50 (UTC +11)!