2026 Malaysian Moto3 - Practice Results

The opening day of Moto3 action at Sepang saw David Almansa set the quickest time to lead the riders moving directly to Q2 in qualifying, ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

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The Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider made his move for the lead in the session heading into the final five minutes after the group run back to the pits, returning to track on his KTM for a 2’ 11.427s best, rising from seventh to first.

It was a trio of rookies that came closest to matching the best time of the day.

Rico Salmela put in a late push on the Tech3 bike to move from 11th to second with three minutes left on the clock, just 0.069s slower than the top time.

Veda Pratama, who secured pole for the Australian race that was not to be last time out, was shuffled back a place to third, the top Honda in Practice for Honda Team Asia.

Eager to impress at home, Hakin Danish placed fourth, having lead the way just seconds before Almansa took over, for MT Helmets.

Early session leader Adrian Fernandez saw that lap, set straight after a hard move on David Munoz, hold onto fifth, with Matteo Bertelle improving to sixth for Level Up - MTA.

FP1 leader Alvaro Carpe was seventh for Red Bull KTM Ajo, after his own piece of unwise riding caused contact between himself and a gesturing, upset Ryusei Yamanaka.

Joel Esteban claimed eighth on the second Level Up entry, just quicker than Brian Uriarte, the leader in the rookie standings, who can claim the title this weekend, but begins it with his closest rivals, Pratama and Danish, ahead of him on Friday.

Munoz went on to finish inside the top ten on the second Dynavolt bike, with new champion Maximo Quiles 11th for Aspar.

The final automatic Q2 qualifying places went to GRYD Racing riders Joel Kelso and Eddie O’Shea in 12th and 13th respectively, with CIP Green Power’s Scott Ogden a safe 14th with no late laps to trouble him in the closing stages.

Guido Pini was one of few riders to find any late pace, but only as far as 15th on the second Leopard, just missing out so needing a trip through Q1.

Valentin Perrone still has his long lap penalty to serve as there was no Phillip Island race to do so, after taking out Code Motorsports replacement for Cormac Buchanan at the last round. The Argentine rider started his weekend in 17th.

There are only 25 riders in Malaysia, with Buchanan still out of action, but this time not replaced.

Moto3 Practice times:

Official Malaysian Moto3 Records:
Fastest race lap: David Alonso (2025) 2’ 11.047s
Best Pole: Adrian Fernandez (2024) 2’ 09.542s
All-time lap record: Adrian Fernandez (2024) 2’ 09.542s

Free Practice 1

A late effort from Carpe saw the Spaniard head back to first in the session, beating Quiles by 0.129s. Marco Morelli made the top three, ahead of Pratama, who was top rookie and top Honda in the first session, just ahead of fellow newcomer Danish inside the top five.

Uriarte was the only rider to crash, his small slide off saw him drop to ninth.

FP1 times can be found below.

Moto3 FP1 times: