Oliveira Quickest as Kent Hits Problems

Oct 16, 2015
2 min read

Miguel Oliveira continued his fine recent form to finish Friday at the top of the Moto3 field at Phillip Island.

The Spanish rider, who will be stepping up to Moto2 next season with Leopard Racing, was fastest overall after leading both Friday free practice sessions. Oliveira's quickest lap came in the first session as most riders were unable to improve their times in FP2 as rain affected the session at Phillip Island.

Championship leader Danny Kent, who could clinch the Moto3 title on Sunday, was second on the combined times but failed to complete a lap in FP2 due to clutch problems on his Leopard Racing bike and his team were unable to diagnose and fix the problems during the session. However, the rain meant track time loss was minimal and also Kent had started the weekend in good form in FP1. Kent's title rival was a disappointing 14th on the combined times 1.1 seconds slower than Oliveira.

Jorge Navarro was third overall after setting a lap late on in FP2 once the track had dried to move himself up the order from a lowly 13th in the first session. Oliveira's teammate Brad Binder was fourth ahead of Kent's teammate Efren Vazquez in fifth. Romano Fenati was sixth with Japanese Grand Prix winner from last weekend Niccolo Antonelli one place further back. Antonelli, however, suffered a heavy crash in the first session at turn 1 but had managed to improve his time in the afternoon practice.

Phillip Oettl was in eighth whilst Isaac Vinales somehow managed a lap good enough for ninth overall despite a crash in both sessions and then had to visit the Medical Centre before being declared fit to continue racing this weekend. Jakub Kornfeil completed the top 10 and was exactly 1 second slower than the pace of Oliveira. Joan Mir is a new rider this weekend after Hiroki Ono was injured in his crash at his home race last weekend and the substitute rider was a respectable 23rd.

Moto3 Friday Combined Practice Top 10:

1st - Miguel OLIVEIRA, 1m37.209s

2nd - Danny KENT, 1m37.419s

3rd - Jorge NAVARRO, 1m37.531s

4th - Brad BINDER, 1m37.698s

5th - Efren VAZQUEZ, 1m37.876s

6th - Romano FENATI, 1m37.891s

7th - Niccolo ANTONELLI, 1m38.046s

8th - Phillip OETTL, 1m38.176s

9th - Isaac VINALES, 1m38.188s

10th - Jakub KORNFEIL, 1m38.209s

Full Moto3 combined practice times for Australian GP available here: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/2015/AUS/Moto3/FP2/CombinedPracticeTimes.pdf?v1_74c11721