A damp and dirty track slows down the Moto3 riders at the opening practice session in Indonesia – Surra marks the narrow fastest time ahead of Öncü and Guevara
The opening Moto3 practice session at Mandalika ended with Alberto Surra setting the fastest time. The Honda rider lapped the new circuit on the race calendar in 1:51.050 minutes, just ahead of Deniz Öncü (KTM) and Izan Guevara (GasGas), who finished second and third respectively (result)
In the first practice session of the day, the track was still wet after a shower in the morning, but it stopped raining. Given the high temperatures, the asphalt dried up visibly as the session progressed. For the Moto3 riders, it was their first contact with the track, as unlike MotoGP, they did not test here in advance.
With the rain tyres it was not easy for the field to find the limit. On top of that, the track was still quite dirty. A visible film of dirt formed on both the motorbikes and the riders’ racing suits after the first laps.
Nevertheless, the grip level of the track seemed to be good. There were no crashes. After numerous changes at the top of the classification, Surra moved into first place five minutes before the end of the practice and did not relinquish it. His direct pursuers, however, were only a few hundredths of a second behind him.
Öncü was only 0.047 seconds behind. Guevara and rookie Daniel Holgado (KTM) were separated by less than seven hundredths of a second from the best time. Behind them were Carlos Tatay (FCMoto), Jaume Masia, Elia Bartolini, Matteo Bertelle (all KTM), Xavier Artigas (CFMoto) and Stefano Nepa (KTM). The top 10 were within a second of each other.
Qatar opener winner Andrea Migno (Honda) finished the first practice at Mandalika in 19th place, just under 1.8 seconds behind. Kaito Toba (KTM), third in Qatar, brought up the rear. He was more than four seconds off the top.
A total of 28 Moto3 riders are competing this weekend. John McPhee (Husqvarna) was injured in a supermoto crash and will not be replaced. Taiyo Furusato (Honda) also still has to take a break due to injury.
