Maximo Quiles was the fastest rider in the opening free practice for the Australian Grand Prix, the 18th round of the 2026 Moto3 season. In the session held on Thursday night (22) in Brazil, corresponding to Friday morning at the Phillip Island circuit, the rider of bike number 28, already the world champion, posted a 1:35.439 on his final lap, with the clock already reset.
The runner-up position went to Brian Uriarte, who paced the late stretch of the session nearly to the end, only to be overtaken by Quiles by a margin of 0.086 seconds. Álvaro Carpe completed the session with the third-fastest time, ahead of Joel Kelso, who finished the session in fourth. The group rounding out the top five in the standings also included Eddie O’Shea.
Joel Esteban concluded the session with the sixth-best time, ahead of Veda Pratama in seventh. Adrian Cruces finished the activity that opened Moto3’s weekend in Australia in eighth place, ahead of Ryusei Yamanaka in ninth. The top-10 at Phillip Island also included David Muñoz.
The session saw a crash when there were just over three minutes left on the clock, as Casey O’Gorman went off into the gravel at turn 3 of Phillip Island circuit.
Also on Thursday, the session will determine the 14 riders who will advance directly to Q2 in the classification, while Friday will feature another free practice and the qualifying. The Australian Moto3 Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 9:00 PM on Saturday.
