Alonso takes Friday honours from Rueda

The Moto3™ field had a dramatic Friday at the Gran Premio GoPro de Aragon, with David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) taking advantage as he looks to extend his already impressive points lead. It was a hot pace, with the #80 entering the low 1:57 bracket and finishing 0.210s ahead of his rivals – breaking the lap record in the process. However, Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was charging hard behind, having a strong day and setting almost 15 laps across during Practice 1. The #99 was ahead of David Almansa (Kopron Rivacold Snipers Team), who had an equally impressive afternoon, rounding out the top three spots and finishing as the top Honda.

Alonso had a confidence-boosting start to the weekend, finishing Friday morning’s Free Practice fastest after the Colombian jumped to the top of the time sheets on his penultimate lap. However, once Practice 1 got underway in the afternoon it was a battle for top honours with Rueda leading the way in the early stages. There was drama for Filippo Farioli (SIC58 Squadra Corse), with the Italian crashing at Turn 5 with less than 20 minutes remaining. Meanwhile, Rueda remained quickest until time attacks began as Alonso eventually leapt into the top spot.

Collin Veijer (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) was fourth at the end of Day 1’s proceedings with the Dutchman unable to match Alonso’s relentless pace – finishing 0.790s behind. The #95 ended the day ahead of David Muñoz (BOE Motorsports), who rounded out the top five spots ahead of Ivan Ortola (MT Helmets – MSI) in sixth. The #48 ended Friday less than one second adrift from the top spot and in front of Leopard Racing’s Angel Piqueras and Adrian Fernandez, in what was a strong day for the team.

The final spots inside the top 10 went the way of Joel Kelso (BOE Motorsports) in ninth and Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) in P10. Stefano Nepa (LEVELUP – MTA) secured a provisional spot inside Q2 in 11^th ahead of Joel Esteban (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) in 12^th. Meanwhile, Red Bull GASGAS Tech3’s Jacob Roulstone and Daniel Holgado took the final spots inside the important top 14 on Friday. This leaves some key names with work to do in Practice 2, including Tatsuki Suzuki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP), who ended the day down in 15^th ahead of MT Helmets – MSI’s Ryusei Yamanaka.

Set your Saturday morning alarms for Practice 2 at 8:40 local time (UTC +2) before qualifying gets underway at 12:50 local time, so make sure you join us then and keep up with all the action on motogp.com!

Top 10:

FULL RESULTS!