David Almansa led Moto3 World Championship practice Friday afternoon at Petronas Sepang International Circuit, in Malaysia. Almansa used his Pirelli-shod Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP KTM to lap the 3.44-mile (5.54 km) track in 2:11.427 to lead the field of 25 riders.
Rico Salmela was second-best with a time of 2:11.496 on his Red Bull KTM Tech 3 machine.
Veda Pratama, piloting his Honda Team Asia machine, claimed the third and final spot on the front with a lap time of 2:11.519.
Home hero Hakim Danish was fourth on his AEON Credit – MT Helmets – MSI KTM with a lap time of 2:11.573 and Adrian Fernandez finished the practice session fifth on his Leopard Racing Honda with a time of 2:11.589.
MOTO3 PRACTICE
More, from a press release issued by MotoGP:
Almansa soars to Sepang P1 on Friday, home star Danish fourth. It was business as usual on Friday for the rider currently P2 in the standings whilst the home crowd will be cheering on Danish’s strong start.
After a tricky start to the day, David Almansa (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) paved his way to P1 to draw first blood in Moto3 in Malaysia. Aiming to consolidate P2 overall in the standings, the #22 set the fastest time of the day to head the field whilst the homecoming tour is well underway for Hakim Danish (AEON Credit – MT Helmets – MSI) with the Malaysian fourth at the chequered flag.
A 2’11.427 saw the Spaniard clear by less than a tenth of a second from rookie star Rico Salmela (Red Bull KTM Tech3), taking to Sepang for the first time. 0.069s split the top two whilst less than a tenth covered the top three with Phillip Island polesitter Veda Pratama (Honda Team Asia) continuing his form in third and taking top Honda honours. Danish was a star in fourth ahead of Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) whilst, like Almansa, Matteo Bertelle (LEVELUP-MTA) turned around a tricky FP1 to round out the top six in Practice.
Heavyweight names are scattered further back with the likes of Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in P7, teammate Brian Uriarte in P9 and David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) in P10. 2026 World Champion Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team) was only 11th whereas big names missed the cut all together. US GP winner Guido Pini (Leopard Racing) will face the Q1 music in 15th, along with Argentinean pairing Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech3) and Marco Morelli (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team).
