125cc – Phillip Island QP1 – Gabor Talmacsi, best time and crash

With the track dry for every centimeter of its length, Phillip Island offered the first qualifying session reserved for 125cc. Thirty minutes, not many but enough to witness a good show on Australian soil, with the best time of Gabor Talmacsi protagonist in the "good" and the "bad". The Hungarian championship leader, shortly after stopping the clock at 1'39"134, was the protagonist of a bad fall at turn 12, better known as the "big bend" which enters the pit straight at very high speed. No physical consequences, just a battered Aprilia RS 125 with the mechanics of the Bancaja Aspar team forced to work overtime.

Good start in any case for the Valencian structure, with the duel for the championship between Talmacsi and Faubel repeated since the first qualifying sessions, with the Iberian second at a paltry 44 thousandths of a second from his teammate. Third time for Tomoyoshi Koyama (remained at the top of the time monitor for a few seconds), followed by Mattia Pasini and Sergio Gadea astride the Aprilia RSA 125. It was a positive day for our colours, in particular seeing Raffaele's performances De Rosa and Lorenzo Zanetti, arm in arm in seventh and eighth position, immediately with the pace of the best.

However, things were bad for Roberto Tamburini and the rookie Ferruccio Lamborghini, who were temporarily off the starting grid. The Roberto Muresan/Blake Leight Smith pair was also out, having come into contact mid-session, while things went partially better for Andrea Iannone, who flew violently to the ground and was 24th in the standings.

Alessio Piana