Bastianini blasts out the blocks fastest on Day 1

Dalla Porta and Arbolino round out the top three in a hectic Moto3 session

Enea Bastianini (Leopard Racing) topped the time sheets by a considerable 0.408 seconds on Day 1 of the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina, with team mate Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) giving the team a great start to the weekend to make it a Leopard 1-2.

Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) was third overall, the Italian impressing as he got back in the groove following a more difficult start to the season in Qatar. Livio Loi (Reale Avintia Academy) was a further 0.041 seconds further back in fourth, while Del Conca Gresini Moto3’s Jorge Martin rounded out the top five on a track where he grabbed a podium last season.

Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) was 0.023 back from the World Championship leader in sixth, with home hero Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull Rider) – who led for most of the session – was a solid seventh.

Malaysian Adam Norrodin (Petronas Sprinta Racing) was eighth quickest on Day 1 as he kept his morning pace rolling in the afternoon, ahead of Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse). Honda Team Asia rider Nakarin Atiratphuvapat suffered a crash on the final lap, however he walked away relatively unscathed – he ended the day in the top 10.

After an incident in FP1 in which he collided with Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PruestelGP), Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) took P14, with FP1 leader Bezzecchi further down the timesheets. 

The Moto3™ riders will be back out again at 09:00 (GMT -3) on Saturday morning. View the full Friday results here.