Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) ends Day 1 at the Michelin Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix at the top of the pile after setting a late personal best lap to claim P1 from Championship leader Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3). Canet’s 1:37.285 edged out Martin by 0.111, with Marcos Ramirez (Bester Capital Dubai) just 0.002 behind the latter in third to make it a Spanish 1-2-3 in the lightweight class.
After two crashes in the disrupted morning session, title contender Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PruestelGP) heads into qualifying day fourth fastest on the combined times, 0.173 behind Canet, with Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull Rider) just 0.017 behind the Italian in fifth. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) earns a top ten place in FP2, sixth place for the in-form Italian after ending FP1 in P12, with John McPhee (CIP – Green Power) seventh fastest to round off a solid day’s work for a Scotsman after ending FP1 in P5.
Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing) ends the day eighth quickest, a dramatic improvement from P24 in FP1 for the Japanese rider, as Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) and Enea Bastianini (Leopard Racing) round out the top ten.
Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) suffered a big crash as he entered the braking zone into Turn 4, the Italian hitting the back of Nakarin Atiratphuvapat (Honda Team Asia) and going down heavily before heading to the medical centre for a checkup - rider later declared fit. Meanwhile, after causing the red flags in FP1, Stefano Nepa (CIP - Green Power) was made to sit out of FP2 by the stewards.
The lightweight class will be on track at 10:00 local time for FP3 on Saturday.
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