Leopard Racing’s Adrian Fernandez was a cut above the rest in Moto3 qualifying today in Indonesia, where there were also four Honda riders inside the top eight.

Fernandez, who had already demonstrated good speed yesterday, continued this strong form today during qualifying. Quick out the blocks, the Spaniard kept himself towards the top of the timing screens early on in Q2, before setting a 1min 37.022secs lap in the closing stages. This lap secured pole position for tomorrow’s race and broke the all-time Moto3 lap record at Mandalika.

Several NSF250RW riders also showed strong pace during Q2 and were challenging for the front row. At the end of the fifteen minutes, there were four Honda riders inside the top eight: Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) was fifth, David Almansa (Leopard Racing) was seventh and SIC58 Squadra Corse’s Luca Lunetta (who had to go through Q1) was eighth. Lunetta’s team-mate Stefano Nepa ended the session in 17^th place.

In the earlier Q1 session GRYD – MLav Racing’s Eddie O’Shea was unfortunate to narrowly miss out on advancing to Q2, ending the session in fifth place. This will see him start tomorrow’s race from 19^th place. Riccardo Rossi (Rivacold Snipers Team) will line up on the grid one place behind in 20^th, with Marco Morelli (GRYD – MLav Racing) 21^st.

Japanese rider Zen Mitani makes his Moto3 debut this weekend, as he fills in for the injured Nicola Carraro at Rivacold Snipers Team. He will start tomorrow’s race from 24^th on the grid, while Honda Team Asia’s Arbi Aditama will be starting his home race from 25^th.

Tomorrow’s 20-lap Moto3 race around the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit will get underway at midday local time, one hour later than normal.