2026 Qatar Moto3 - Practice Results

The opening day of Moto3 action at Lusail saw Maximo Quiles put his earlier FP1 crash behind him to top Friday and lead the riders moving directly to Q2 in qualifying, ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix.

• Qatar MotoGP LIVE: Updates from Friday practice at Lusail

The Aspar rider did not let his earlier heavy fall affect his second session of track time, fastest in both the FP1 session which will match the lightweight class race conditions closer and the floodlight Practice, which decides the Q1 and Q2 places, with a best time of 2’ 03.172s.

Riding solo, it was once again David Almansa taking it to his fellow countryman, swapping places at the top of the timesheets on their KTM’s before the Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider eventually finished just 0.200s slower.

David Munoz also fell in FP1, and, though looking battered and bruised, built into the session to chase down and get a tow from Ryusei Yamanaka, to move from 12th to third behind his Dynavolt team-mate.

Hakim Danish was a constant at the top of the timesheets, on his way to being the top rookie in Practice, in fourth for MT Helmets.

After a yellow flag infringement in FP1, Veda Pratama will have a six place grid penalty for a second offence for Sunday. The only blip on a solid day for the Honda Team Asia rider, who finished Friday inside the top five as the top Honda rider.

Another rookie, Rico Salmela, placed sixth on his Lusail debut for Red Bull KTM Tech3.

Joel Kelso was circulating with GRYD Racing team-mate Eddie O’Shea towards the end of the session, both improving on their final runs, with Kelso up to seventh and O’Shea ninth, sandwiching the time from Leopard rider Adrian Fernandez, who was eighth quickest.

Joel Esteban was in the way of Salmela on his best lap, though he still improved from 14th to what was, at the time, fifth. The Level Up rider went on to complete the top ten after his on-track error of judgement.

Marco Morelli spent much of the Practice session teetering on or near the at-risk positions, before his last effort saw the second Aspar move up to a safer eleventh just before the chequered flag.

Scott Ogden was one of the last riders to improve, moving up to 12th for CIP Green Power, with the remaining automatic Q2 places going to Valentin Perrone on the second Tech3 bike in 13th and Yamanaka in 14th for MT Helmets.

Alvaro Carpe just missed out, the first rider over a second from the lead time by Quiles, in 15th for Red Bull KTM Ajo.

Carpe will be joined in Q1 by his team-mate Brian Uriarte, the rookie, who sits third overall, and was also off the pace in Qatar, finishing 21st.

There was only one fall, early in the session for Kiattisak Singhapong at turn nine, the Rivacold Snipers rider dropping to 24th after a promising start in FP1.

South African rider Kgopotso Mononyane makes his championship debut as the latest rider to fill in for the injured Cormac Buchanan at CODE Motorsports. ‘KJ’, a current Junior championship and Red Bull Rookies champion, placed 25th.

After his FP1 fall, Level UP - MTA rider Matteo Bertelle had not changed into his leathers, taking no part in the time crucial afternoon session.

Moto3 Practice times:

Official Qatar Moto3 Records:
Fastest race lap: Tatsuki Suzuki (2024) 2’ 03.135s
Best Pole: Daniel Holgado (2024) 2’ 02.276s
All-time lap record: Daniel Holgado (2024) 2’ 02.276s

Free Practice 1

The first session at a sweltering Lusail International Circuit saw Quiles fastest, with almost a seconds advantage over the rest of the class for much of the time on track.

 The Aspar rider made it around just in time for one final lap, which saw him suffer a huge highside at turn nine, hitting the kerb seeing him sent spinning through the gravel.

Kelso lessened the deficit slightly in the closing minutes, the top Honda for GRYD Racing, finishing an improved 0.793s slower.

Morelli picked up the pace to close in on his Aspar team-mate in third, with a trio of rookies next on the timesheets.

Salmela gave plenty of tows, before, still at the front of a train of bikes his time improved for fourth.

Danish Completed the top five just ahead of  Pratama, with Singhapong continuing to impress after taking overt the Snipers seat in eighth.

There were two further heavy crashes in FP1. David Munoz was first into the gravel, with another highside, his coming at turn 14, with Matteo Bertelle looking equally battered and bruised after his fall at turn nine, also causing a long yellow flag.

FP1 times can be found below.

Moto3 FP1 times: