Not giving up without a fight, Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) may have his back against the wall in the title scrap but he came out meaning business on Friday in Indonesia. The #36 led the way in the heat of Mandalika to head the field into Saturday’s all-important qualifying day, giving him a solid platform to build on in a vital weekend.
Piqueras moved to the top of the timesheets in the closing stages, setting a 1’37.503. He was 0.098s ahead of Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) who suffered a big highside in the last three minutes of the session at Turn 7 before being taken to the medical centre. Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was able to bag third, with him and Piqueras set for the title battle this weekend, given that the #99 can get it wrapped up. Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) was the top Honda rider in fourth place ahead of David Muñoz (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) who was fastest in the morning.
Next up were the LEVELUP-MTA duo of Joel Kelso and Matteo Bertelle in P6 and P7 respectively, whilst David Almansa (Leopard Racing) took eighth. Almansa had a penultimate corner save which in-turn took down Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in a bizarre incident. Carpe took ninth at the chequered flag whilst Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) completed the top ten.
There were a lot of incidents throughout the session, most notably for Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Luca Lunetta (SIC59 Squadra Corse), both crashing together in the opening laps of the session at Turn 11. Lunetta was able to return to the track but not complete a lap time whilst Perrone didn’t get back on track. Cormac Buchanan (DENSSI – BOE Motorsports) was a crasher at Turn 11 too, whilst Moto3™ debutant Zen Mitani (Rivacold Snipers Team) highsided at Turn 7 in a similar fashion to Guido Pini (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) from FP1. Pini himself had a second crash of the weekend, this time at Turn 16 but was all OK but finds himself in Q1.
Moto3 Practice results from Mandalika!