Moto2 new all-time lap record whereas Moto3 misses by just thousandths of second

The inclement weather had a significant impact on race preparations
 
“On Phillip Island, the first two days of the Grand Prix of Australia were strongly influenced by the foul weather. In fact, due to the rain, all of the practice sessions were held on a wet track with DIABLO Rain tyres. The sole exception was the second part of the Moto2™ P1 session on Friday afternoon, where the riders were able to lap with slicks, even though the track was still damp. Precisely in this session, some long runs were done on the soft D0532 development rear with outstanding results in terms of wear, whereas the hard SC3 was practically not used at all. In Moto3™, we were able to see slicks in action for the first time in qualifying today but long-distance simulations were clearly not done. Despite the qualifiers being the first true session on slicks, in Moto2™, no fewer than 14 riders dropped below the all-time lap record, whereas in Moto3™, Ortolá took pole position missing the lap record by just 18 thousandths of a second. This is undoubtedly not an ideal situation. It would have been much more useful to have more data on the slicks in preparation for the race, which will likely be held on dry asphalt, especially on a demanding circuit like Phillip Island. Unfortunately, this was not possible but, on the other hand, we don’t have any evidence to suggest that any compound may not be suitable for the race and must therefore be removed from the allocation either, so as far as we are concerned, all the compounds for both categories remain valid alternatives for tomorrow, although we are well aware that, in the absence of any data on which to base their decisions, the choice for teams and riders will not be an easy one.”

Moto2™
 
· In Q2, on his tenth and final lap, Fermín Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro) succeeded in taking pole position for tomorrow’s race with a time of 1’30.876, which also gives him the new all-time lap record with an improvement of over one second over the previous record which had had also set last year (1’31.888). To achieve this result, the Spanish rider used an SC1 compound tyre at the front and an SC0 D0532 development solution at the rear.

· Aldeguer was also the fastest rider in P1, with the track gradually drying out. On that occasion, he used a front rain tyre combined with a D0532 slick rear to achieve the fastest time of the session. In the wet, on the other hand, the fastest rider was Aron Canet (Fantic Racing/Kalex) in the morning free practice session.

· Besides Aldeguer, another 13 riders also dropped below the previous track lap record during qualifying.
 
Moto3™
 
· Iván Ortolá (MT Helmets-MSI/KTM) took pole position with a time of 1’35.872 on his seventh and final lap, a time which was just 18 thousandths faster than the all-time lap record set by Ayumi Sasaki in 2022. To achieve the best time in qualifying, the Spaniard used slicks in SC2 compound on both axles.
 
· The qualifiers were the only session where the Moto3™ riders were able to use dry tyres, whereas in the practice sessions, DIABLO™ Rain tyres were used throughout due to the wet track. On rain tyres, the fastest rider was Angel Piqueras (Leopard Racing/Honda) who did a lap in 1’44.682 during P2.
 
· The qualifiers were held on a dry track with an asphalt temperature of 29°C and air temperature of14°C, whereas the practice sessions, all on a wet track, were held with asphalt temperatures between 13°C in P2 and 27°C in P1.