The Friday Moto3 sessions in Jerez saw championship leader Maximo Quiles top both FP1 and then the timed Practice session in the afternoon which determines the qualifying sessions, completing a dominant first day ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.
The Aspar rider started the second session strongly but came up against stiffer opposition in Practice, leaving it to the final minutes on track to return to the top of the timesheets with a best time of the day – a 1m44.078s lap.
That solo run for the Spaniard took over from fellow countryman David Munoz, who hit the top as he again returned from his leg break injury after pulling out of the American round.
This time, the Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider looked back to his best, riding as tight as possible to Zen Mitani ahead to slipstream over the line, for a time that ended up being just 0.041s slower than Quiles.
After setting his best lap Munoz ran into the gravel at turn one, ending the laps of several riders behind with a yellow flag.
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Valentin Perrone was third quickest after several impressive laps on his own for Red Bull KTM Tech3.
Matteo Bertelle was a close fourth after catching Perrone and following him over the line on his Level Up – MTA bike, that lap had seen Perrone a brief leader in the session.
David Almansa was fifth quickest on the second Dynavolt bike, just ahead of Adrian Fernandez.
The top Honda on Friday, the Leopard rider pulled out of his final fast effort as he was being stalked around by Joel Kelso, who was keen to elevate himself out of 21st by any means possible, but lost his line and tow to the Spaniard.
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Brian Uriarte impressed as the top rookie for Red Bull KTM Ajo in seventh – ahead of his more experienced team-mate Alvaro Carpe in ninth. The duo sandwiched CIP Green Power rider Adrian Cruces, who placed eighth.
Marco Morelli responded to a drop on the timing tower, powering back for a top 10 finish for Aspar, completing a strong day for the team.
The final automatic Q2 spots went to SIC58 Squadra Corse rider Casey O’Gorman in 11th, Tech3 rookie Rico Salmela in 12th, Joel Esteban on the second Level Up – MTA bike in 13th and Scott Ogden in 14th.
The CIP Green Power rider held the final spot despite a late, strange crash where the British rider and his bike ran straight on, all the way to the barrier at turn nine.
Leopard’s Guido Pini was the rider to just miss out in 15th.
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There were was one further crash for Ruche Moodley. Eddie O’Shea suffered a technical, which guaranteed he would be stuck in Q1, putting his hand up and moving safely off track at turn six.
Official Spanish Moto3 Records:
Fastest race lap: Jose Antonio Rueda (2025) 1m44.352s
All time lap record: David Alonso (2024) 1m43.710s
Best Pole: Jose Antonio Rueda (2025) 1m43.755s
2026 Jerez Moto3 – Practice ResultsPosRiderNatTeamTime1Maximo QuilesSPACFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team (KTM)1m44.078s2David MunozSPALiqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM)+0.041s3Valentin PerroneARGRed Bull KTM Tech3 (KTM)+0.247s4Matteo BertelleITALEVEL UP – MTA (KTM)+0.325s5David AlmansaSPALiqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM)+0.379s6Adrian FernandezSPALeopard Racing (Honda)+0.405s7Brian UriarteSPARed Bull KTM Ajo (KTM)+0.426s8Adrian CrucesSPACIP Green Power (KTM)+0.466s9Alvaro CarpeSPARed Bull KTM Ajo (KTM)+0.509s10Marco MorelliARGCFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team (KTM)+0.550s11Casey O’GormanIRLSIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda)+0.568s12Rico SalmelaFINRed Bull KTM Tech3 (KTM)+0.592s13Joel EstebanSPALEVEL UP – MTA (KTM)+0.623s14Scott OgdenGBRCIP Green Power (KTM)+0.655s15Guido PiniITALeopard Racing (Honda)+0.778s16Veda PratamaINAHonda Team Asia (Honda)+0.782s17Hakim DanishMALAEON Credit- MT Helmets – MSI (KTM)+0.809s18Jesus RiosSPARivacold Snipers Team (Honda)+0.867s19Ryusei YamanakaJPNAEON Credit- MT Helmets – MSI (KTM)+1.041s20Eddie O’SheaGBRGRYD – MLav Racing (Honda)+1.060s21Joel KelsoAUSGRYD – MLav Racing (Honda)+1.075s22Cormac BuchananNZLCODE Motorsports (KTM)+1.145s23Ruche MoodleyRSACODE Motorsports (KTM)+1.376s24Nicola CarraroITARivacold Snipers Team (Honda)+1.597s25Zen MitaniJPNHonda Team Asia (Honda)+1.643s26Leo RammerstorferAUTSIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda)+2.007sFree Practice 1
The first session had seen Quiles dominate, replying immediately to any challenge to his name at the top of the timesheets, finishing almost 0.4 seconds clear of the rest.
Bertelle was the best of the rest in second, with the team-mates to that duo, Morelli and Esteban in third and fourth.
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Carpe continued the KTM dominance at the start of the day, finishing inside the top five.
Both of the Dynavolt riders were back in action in Jerez, with Almansa sixth and Munoz 11th on their return to track.
Joel Kelso was the best of the Honda riders for the MLav Team in seventh.
Brian Uriarte was the top rookie in the first session in ninth.
There were two crashes in FP1 – O’Gorman was first off after running wide through turn six before Cormac Buchanan became the only other faller.
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FP1 times can be found below.
2026 Jerez Moto3 – Free Practice (1) ResultsPosRiderNatTeamTime1Maximo QuilesSPACFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team (KTM)1m44.833s2Matteo BertelleITALEVEL UP – MTA (KTM)+0.395s3Marco MorelliARGCFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team (KTM)+0.483s4Joel EstebanSPALEVEL UP – MTA (KTM)+0.509s5Alvaro CarpeSPARed Bull KTM Ajo (KTM)+0.537s6David AlmansaSPALiqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM)+0.605s7Joel KelsoAUSGRYD – MLav Racing (Honda)+0.654s8Guido PiniITALeopard Racing (Honda)+0.712s9Brian UriarteSPARed Bull KTM Ajo (KTM)+0.714s10Adrian FernandezSPALeopard Racing (Honda)+0.814s11David MunozSPALiqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM)+0.911s12Scott OgdenGBRCIP Green Power (KTM)+1.004s13Jesus RiosSPARivacold Snipers Team (Honda)+1.005s14Ryusei YamanakaJPNAEON Credit- MT Helmets – MSI (KTM)+1.030s15Rico SalmelaFINRed Bull KTM Tech3 (KTM)+1.044s16Ruche MoodleyRSACODE Motorsports (KTM)+1.246s17Eddie O’SheaGBRGRYD – MLav Racing (Honda)+1.473s18Valentin PerroneARGRed Bull KTM Tech3 (KTM)+1.480s19Cormac BuchananNZLCODE Motorsports (KTM)+1.483s20Adrian CrucesSPACIP Green Power (KTM)+1.519s21Hakim DanishMALAEON Credit- MT Helmets – MSI (KTM)+1.558s22Casey O’GormanIRLSIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda)+1.625s23Leo RammerstorferAUTSIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda)+1.682s24Veda PratamaINAHonda Team Asia (Honda)+1.975s25Nicola CarraroITARivacold Snipers Team (Honda)+2.483s26Zen MitaniJPNHonda Team Asia (Honda)+2.924s