Moto3: Australian Joel Kelso shone, but KTM rider Carpe was faster

The 26 Moto3 riders also encountered generally very good conditions during qualifying. Only the wind – notorious on the island – which blew down the Phillip Island home straight at the start of the session, posed a challenge even for the youngest GP riders. Among them were two Australians. Alongside regular rider Kelso, who had secured pole position in 2025, Marianos Nikolis from Canberra took part in the crucial 35-minute session as a replacement for the injured Cormach Buchanan, hoping to secure one of the 14 coveted places for Q2.

Right from the start, as so often in 2026, David Almansa made his mark. The Spaniard, who hadn’t featured in the top 10 in FP1, set the first fastest time with a lap of 1:35.6 minutes. Behind the Intact GP rider were the 2026 champion Maximo Quiles and his team-mate David Munoz, as well as – much to the delight of the numerous fans lining the track – Joel Kelso.

The session was over for debutant Nikolis before it had even reached the halfway point. The CODE rider went off at the Southern Loop following a collision with Tech3 rider Valentin Perrone. It was also session over for Hakim Danish, who crashed his MSi-KTM into the grass shortly afterwards.

A quarter of an hour before the chequered flag, Quiles set about knocking his compatriot Almansa off the top spot. The Aspar rider had been on course for the fastest time over several laps, but lost a few tenths in each of the final two sectors. His fourth attempt was successful: 1:35.567 mins. A lap later, the number 28 rider had shaved off another hundredth. Meanwhile, the Ajo duo of Alvaro Carpe and Brian Uriarte had overtaken Kelso. Whilst Eddie O’Shea, Scott Ogden and the Honda riders Adrian Fernandez and Veda Pratama held their places in the top 10, the Irishman Casey O’Gorman, in 14th place, was left nervously waiting to see if he would make it through to Q2.

With eight minutes to go, there was jubilation in the stands: Kelso, on the Mlav Honda, was two tenths faster than Quiles. Meanwhile, surprise substitute rider Singhapong (Snipers) had closed the gap on Kelso to move up to 18th place – meaning O’Gorman had, for the time being, been relegated to Q1.

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23.10.2026 - 23:35

In the final, the youngsters tried to find their way into the fast groups. Whilst attempting to move up to second place, Intact rider David Munoz crashed at Turn 10. Other names moved up the order: Scott Ogden climbed to 4th place, whilst Rico Salmela (Tech3) and Matteo Bertelle (MTA) took 6th and 7th places respectively. Munoz dropped back to 8th place.

The Australians were already eyeing Kelso’s fastest time when, 25 seconds before the chequered flag, Alvaro Carpe set off on his final flying lap. The KTM-Ajo rider was successful and, with a time of 1:35.292, was 0.026 seconds faster than the Aussie.

Thailand’s Singhapong caused a surprise by finishing 10th. MSi rider Yamanka san lost 0.88 seconds but still secured the final of the 14 Q2 places. Austrian Leo Rammerstorfer, however, must go through the first qualifying session – finishing 24th, 2.4 seconds off the pace.