Wrap for Pirelli’s Phillip Island début with Moto2 and Moto3

Outstanding tyre performance with record laps on a demanding track
 
“We are pleased with the way our tyres performed in the race and with the performance demonstrated, especially if you consider that until the qualifiers yesterday, the slicks had basically not been used at all due to the wet track. This meant that teams and riders had very little information to go on when choosing which tyres would be the most suitable. The situation was anything but easy, especially on such a demanding track for tyres like Phillip Island. In spite of these difficulties, we saw how the races went: extremely high paces, best race lap records which are also all-time lap records and, in the case of Moto2™, a heated duel all the way to the final turn. We should point out that Canet did the best race lap on his 14th lap with a time of 1’30.816 and, on the penultimate lap, he and Aldeguer once again lapped at 1’30.9, which demonstrates how consistent tyre performance was from start to finish. In terms of wear on the soft D0532 tyre, levels were also extremely good in spite of how abrasive the new asphalt was, and this result was not a given. We’ll head to Asia now for the Thai and Malaysian GP rounds which we will tackle with our standard allocation.”

Moto2™

· Once again, the riders in this category demonstrated that they are very much in line in terms of tyre choices for the race. In fact, everyone used the soft SC1 compound at the front and the soft D0532 development solution at the rear.
 
· After starting from pole position, Fermín Aldeguer (Beta Tools SpeedUp/Boscoscuro) had to battle down to the final turn with Aron Canet (Fantic Racing/Kalex) to win the race, held over a distance of 23 laps. On the third step of the podium was hometown hero, Australian Senna Agius (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP/Husqvarna).

· Aron Canet (Fantic Racing/Kalex) set the new best race lap record with a time of 1’30.816 on his fourteenth lap, improving on Thomas Lüthi’s 2019 record (1’32.609) by almost 1.8 seconds. Canet’s lap also set the new all-time lap record, improving on Aldeguer’s lap during qualifying yesterday by 60 thousandths of a second.

· Besides Canet, another 19 riders dropped below the previous track race lap record. The average lap time in the race, including the starting lap, was 1’31,688, whereas in 2022 it had been 1’34,198, for an improvement of 2.5 seconds per lap.

Moto3™

· After starting from the tenth spot on the grid, David Alonso (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team/CFMOTO) won the 21-lap race with an unpopular tyre choice, putting on the hard C1096 compound at the rear. Besides him, only Filippo Farioli (SIC58 Squadra Corse/Honda) opted to use the same rear tyre, whereas all the other riders went with the medium SC2. At the front, 15 riders, including second-place finisher Daniel Holgado (Red Bull GASGAS Tech3/GasGas), chose the medium SC2 compound, with 11 preferring the soft SC1, including third-place finisher Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing/Honda).

· On the third lap, Stefano Nepa (LEVELUP – MTA/KTM), who finished fourth, set the new best race lap record with a time of 1’35.370, improving on the previous one that Jack Miller had held since 2014 (1’36.302) by almost a full second. Nepa’s time is also the new all-time lap record, given the fact that it is almost half a second faster than Ayumu Sasaki’s 2022 record (1’35.854). All of the top 20 riders dropped below the previous best race lap time.
 
· The race, held with 33°C asphalt temperature, ended in 33’49.557 and, compared with the 2022 race (in 2023 it was a wet race) held over a distance of 23 laps (two more than this year), had an average improvement per lap of over 1.5 seconds (1’36,647 v 1’38,207).