Pole and records for Moreira in Moto2 and Kelso in Moto3 at Phillip Island

· In Moto2™ qualifying, all riders used soft SC1 compound front tyres and medium D0922 development rear tyres. Pole position was grabbed with a time of 1’29.817 by Diogo Moreira (Kalex), who also set the all-time lap record improving by one second that established by Aron Canet in 2024 (1’30.816). Senna Agius second behind the Brazilian, and current championship leader Manuel Gonzalez third, for an all-Kalex front row.

· Joel Kelso (KTM) grabbed pole position for Moto3™ in his home race with a very fast 1’34.056 lap on his sixth attempt, and this also earned him the new all-time lap track record, improving the one set last year by Stefano Nepa (1’35.370) by more than 1.3 seconds. The Australian rider used medium SC2 compound tyres for both axles, the same used by the new World Champion José Antonio Rueda (KTM), second, while Luca Lunetta (Honda) completed the front row of the grid with the front SC1 option.

· Qualifying and practice were the hottest sessions among those held for both classes. The lowest track temperature of 12°C was recorded in Moto3™ FP2, while moderate to strong winds were constant on both days.

Solid tyre performance that smashes track records
 
“Track temperature was variable on the first two days at Phillip Island, with spurts of rain and rain tyres becoming a frequent go-to option on Friday morning in the Moto3™ FP1 and today in Moto2™ FP2. Strong winds were also an issue affecting track action on one hand, while on the other they sped up drying after the rainfall. Qualifying took place with fairly sunny skies, temperatures in line with the Practice session and moderate winds. Tomorrow, due to even stronger winds expected in the early hours of the day, the timetable for all races has been adjusted by one hour later. Despite a variable weather forecast, naturally affecting the track evolution, new all-time lap records were achieved both in Moto2™ and Moto3™, already in yesterday’s Practice session, then further adjusted today during qualifying with improvements in the order of a second or higher in both classes, compared to those reached in 2024. This achievement was obtained also through a solid tyre performance in both classes, despite suboptimal track conditions. We already have a pretty clear picture of what could be tomorrow’s solutions for the races, especially in Moto2™ where the majority of riders are inclined to opt for the soft SC1 front and medium D0922 development rear combo, with the latter showing better performances than the hard SC3. The situation in Moto3™ is less clear-cut, even though there will likely be a prevalence of SC2 mediums tyres on both axles. In terms of absolute performance, the SC2 is indeed more performing, despite the hard C1096 being more consistent over the distance not to mention Alonso’s win in last year’s race with this compound.”