Diogo Moreira sets late best time to beat Dennis Foggia and Sergio Garcia – World Championship leader Izan Guevara crashes and finishes FT1 in eighth
Moto3 rookie Diogo Moreira started the Phillip Island weekend with a fastest time. The KTM rider topped the first Free Practice session with a time of 1’39.773, beating Dennis Foggia (Honda) and Sergio Garcia (GasGas)
Cool conditions prevailed for the first session of the day with an outside temperature of twelve degrees. It was also windy, but the track had largely dried out after yesterday’s rain. Because there were still some damp patches, many riders started the session on rain tyres.
Those who were not immediately on slicks quickly changed over, so that the times gradually increased as the drivers familiarised themselves with the track. For most of them, it is new territory, as the last time they raced here was in 2019.
In the end, a rookie in Moreira prevailed. With his last flying lap, he pushed past veteran Foggia as well as Garcia, who were also able to improve on their respective last attempts. Only one tenth separated the top three.
Local hero Joel Kelso (KTM), who does not know the track from Moto3 but from other racing series, secured fourth place. Tatsuki Suzuki (Honda) crashed late and finished fifth.
After them Daniel Holgado, Stefano Nepa (both KTM), Izan Guevara (GasGas), Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna) and Deniz Öncü (KTM) lined up. The top 10 were within one second of each other. Guevara caused a moment of shock when he hit the grass slightly in turn 8 and was bumped off his bike.
That’s far from the weekend plan that @IzanGuevara28 had in mind!
This place can catch you out if you’re not careful! Thankfully it seems Izan is all OK AustralianGP pic.twitter.com/FK3JL3aSOh
– MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) October 13, 2022
The world championship leader then remained kneeling in the gravel for a longer time, but then got up on his own and did not appear to have hurt himself. He was still in third place at the time of the crash. He was unable to finish the session.
Before that, there had already been two crashes in turn 11. First, Alberto Surra (Honda), who is back after a long injury break, crashed. Shortly afterwards, John McPhee (Husqvarna) also crashed at the same spot. No one was injured.
