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The Friday Moto3 sessions in Jerez saw championship leader Maximo Quiles top both FP1 and then the timed Practice session 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, 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 lap 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.
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 on the Practice session.
David Almansa was fifth quickest on the second Dynavolt bike, just ahead of Adrian Fernandez.
The top Honda on Friday, the Leopard rider pilled 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.
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 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.
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 Results | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
| 1 | Maximo Quiles | SPA | CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team (KTM) | 1m44.078s |
| 2 | David Munoz | SPA | Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | +0.041s |
| 3 | Valentin Perrone | ARG | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (KTM) | +0.247s |
| 4 | Matteo Bertelle | ITA | LEVEL UP - MTA (KTM) | +0.325s |
| 5 | David Almansa | SPA | Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | +0.379s |
| 6 | Adrian Fernandez | SPA | Leopard Racing (Honda) | +0.405s |
| 7 | Brian Uriarte | SPA | Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) | +0.426s |
| 8 | Adrian Cruces | SPA | CIP Green Power (KTM) | +0.466s |
| 9 | Alvaro Carpe | SPA | Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) | +0.509s |
| 10 | Marco Morelli | ARG | CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team (KTM) | +0.550s |
| 11 | Casey O'Gorman | IRL | SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) | +0.568s |
| 12 | Rico Salmela | FIN | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (KTM) | +0.592s |
| 13 | Joel Esteban | SPA | LEVEL UP - MTA (KTM) | +0.623s |
| 14 | Scott Ogden | GBR | CIP Green Power (KTM) | +0.655s |
| 15 | Guido Pini | ITA | Leopard Racing (Honda) | +0.778s |
| 16 | Veda Pratama | INA | Honda Team Asia (Honda) | +0.782s |
| 17 | Hakim Danish | MAL | AEON Credit- MT Helmets - MSI (KTM) | +0.809s |
| 18 | Jesus Rios | SPA | Rivacold Snipers Team (Honda) | +0.867s |
| 19 | Ryusei Yamanaka | JPN | AEON Credit- MT Helmets - MSI (KTM) | +1.041s |
| 20 | Eddie O'Shea | GBR | GRYD - MLav Racing (Honda) | +1.060s |
| 21 | Joel Kelso | AUS | GRYD - MLav Racing (Honda) | +1.075s |
| 22 | Cormac Buchanan | NZL | CODE Motorsports (KTM) | +1.145s |
| 23 | Ruche Moodley | RSA | CODE Motorsports (KTM) | +1.376s |
| 24 | Nicola Carraro | ITA | Rivacold Snipers Team (Honda) | +1.597s |
| 25 | Zen Mitani | JPN | Honda Team Asia (Honda) | +1.643s |
| 26 | Leo Rammerstorfer | AUT | SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) | +2.007s |
Free 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.
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 - Casey O’Gorman was first off after running wide through turn six before Cormac Buchanan became the only other faller.
FP1 times can be found below.
| 2026 Jerez Moto3 - Free Practice (1) Results | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
| 1 | Maximo Quiles | SPA | CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team (KTM) | 1m44.833s |
| 2 | Matteo Bertelle | ITA | LEVEL UP - MTA (KTM) | +0.395s |
| 3 | Marco Morelli | ARG | CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team (KTM) | +0.483s |
| 4 | Joel Esteban | SPA | LEVEL UP - MTA (KTM) | +0.509s |
| 5 | Alvaro Carpe | SPA | Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) | +0.537s |
| 6 | David Almansa | SPA | Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | +0.605s |
| 7 | Joel Kelso | AUS | GRYD - MLav Racing (Honda) | +0.654s |
| 8 | Guido Pini | ITA | Leopard Racing (Honda) | +0.712s |
| 9 | Brian Uriarte | SPA | Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) | +0.714s |
| 10 | Adrian Fernandez | SPA | Leopard Racing (Honda) | +0.814s |
| 11 | David Munoz | SPA | Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | +0.911s |
| 12 | Scott Ogden | GBR | CIP Green Power (KTM) | +1.004s |
| 13 | Jesus Rios | SPA | Rivacold Snipers Team (Honda) | +1.005s |
| 14 | Ryusei Yamanaka | JPN | AEON Credit- MT Helmets - MSI (KTM) | +1.030s |
| 15 | Rico Salmela | FIN | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (KTM) | +1.044s |
| 16 | Ruche Moodley | RSA | CODE Motorsports (KTM) | +1.246s |
| 17 | Eddie O'Shea | GBR | GRYD - MLav Racing (Honda) | +1.473s |
| 18 | Valentin Perrone | ARG | Red Bull KTM Tech3 (KTM) | +1.480s |
| 19 | Cormac Buchanan | NZL | CODE Motorsports (KTM) | +1.483s |
| 20 | Adrian Cruces | SPA | CIP Green Power (KTM) | +1.519s |
| 21 | Hakim Danish | MAL | AEON Credit- MT Helmets - MSI (KTM) | +1.558s |
| 22 | Casey O'Gorman | IRL | SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) | +1.625s |
| 23 | Leo Rammerstorfer | AUT | SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) | +1.682s |
| 24 | Veda Pratama | INA | Honda Team Asia (Honda) | +1.975s |
| 25 | Nicola Carraro | ITA | Rivacold Snipers Team (Honda) | +2.483s |
| 26 | Zen Mitani | JPN | Honda Team Asia (Honda) | +2.924s |










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