Angel Piquerras led Moto3 World Championship practice on Friday afternoon at Phillip Island in Australia. Piqueras used a Pirelli-shod Tiger Racing Honda to lap the 2.76-mile (4.44 km) track in 1:44.949, leading the field of 26 riders.
2024 Moto3 World Champion David Alonso was second in 1:45.991 for Gaviota Aspar Team CFMOTO.
Piquéras team-mate Adrian Fernandez took the third and final front position with a lap time of 1:47.062.
Moto3 Classification Practice 1
Further, from Dorna’s press release:
Piqueras took power to P1 ahead of Alonso at Phillip Island. The Spaniard topped the timesheets in difficult conditions ahead of Alonso and Fernandez.
Angel Piquerras (Tiger Racing) has made a strong start to the Qatar Airways Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix, securing top spot on a tough opening day at Phillip Island. The #36 set a 1:44.949 to gain a 1.042s advantage over new Moto3 World Champion David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) who claimed P2 at the end of the course. The Colombian set a strong pace in Practice 1 with just 14 laps to go to finish the day ahead of Adrian Fernandez, completing a strong day for the Leopard Racing Team and Honda.
It was a difficult start to proceedings at Phillip Island, with free practice taking place in wet conditions. Alonso took top honors on Friday morning with a confidence-boosting start to the weekend. Once practice 1 started, conditions seemed to improve, with Piqueras already taking the top spot. Piqueras continued to build throughout the session, setting the best time on the eighth lap, which was good enough to hold on to P1.
Securing fourth was David Almansa (Copron Rivacold Snipers Team), who was a further 0.049s off the top three. As conditions improved, the #22 set a confident 1:47.111 ahead of teammate Matteo Bertle (Kopron Rivacold Snipers Team). The Italian finished ahead of David Munoz (BOE Motorsports) on Friday, taking the #64 sixth after early drama with Fernandez in FP1. Meanwhile, Colin Weir (Leaky Molly Husqvarna Intact GP) finished eighth ahead of Stefano Nepa (LEVELUP – MTA) in seventh.
Back to back, Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports) finished 10th in what was an important weekend for Kelso as he aimed for a big result in front of his home crowd. Noah Detwiler (CIP Green Power) took 11Th The #72 completed the opening day of action with Tatsuki Suzuki (Licky Molly Husqvarna Intact GP) and CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team’s Joel Esteban finishing last in a crucial top 14.
Set your alarm clocks and tune in when Moto3â„¢ returns at 08:30 local time (UTC +11) on Saturday before the important qualifier starts at 12:50 (UTC +11)!