Moto3 Championship leader Andrea Migno claimed Friday honours after a day of two halves at Mandalika International Street Circuit.
The Rivacold Snipers’ rider continued his dominant form from Qatar’s top step by setting the overall pace, a 1’40.960, at the all-new track. CF Moto PruestelGP’s Carlos Tatay and Leopard’s Dennis Foggia split by three-tenths as they rounded out the top three.
Rain played its part as the lightweight class got its first glimpse of the very humid Lombok layout on Friday morning. The tricky conditions saw damp and dirty running for the majority of the 40-minute FP1 session with second Snipers rider Alberto Surra heading the times with a 1’51.050 from Tech 3 KTM’s Deniz Öncü and Gaviota GasGas’ Izan Guevara.
Class rookie Daniel Holgado sat fourth on the KTM Ajo machine as the session drew to a close with teammate Jaume Masia completing the top six and Tatay splitting the pair. With Sterilgarda Husqvarna’s John McPhee out of the weekend due to injury, Scott Ogden and Josh Whatley flew the British flag from 11th and 23rd respectively. Ogden circulating just 1.2s adrift of the fastest effort after 15 laps of the new 4.3km layout.
The afternoon session allowed dry running for the Moto3 grid with Masia taking charge from the outset. QatarGP standout Ayumu Sasaki soon rose to the top of the standings on his fourth lap before Migno and Foggia vied for the position.
The Leopard rider sat fastest, on 1’41.675 pace at the halfway stage as the track conditions continued to improve and the top trio circulated within three-tenths of each other. Tatsuki Suzuki trailed his countrymen for fourth ahead of an impressive performance from local rookie Mario Aji.
Diogo Moreira set his sights on Q2 on his ninth revolution as the KTM MT Helmets - MSI rookie secured a 1’42.2 lap, advancing him into the top four with 15 minutes left on the clock before Suzuki reclaimed the position moments later.
An impressive showing from Ogden saw the VisionTrack Honda rider jumped the times to third with three minutes to go before bettering on his next attempt as he slid into second. Guevara’s 1’41.385 overpowering the rookie by just two-tenths as the final efforts began to register.
The final shuffle saw Migno back in charge from Sasaki and Guevara with Öncü, Masia and Ogden battling for the top six in the closing minute. Ivan Artola headed Elia Bartolini in a rookie battle in the middle of the pack before late efforts from Foggia, Tatay and Ricardo Rossi dropped them to the fringes of the top ten.
Tech3’s Adrian Fernandez and Avintia’s Matteo Bertelle held the final provisional Q2 positions overnight with CIP Green Power’s Joel Kelso the first to miss out.
