MotoGP Portimao: Rookies reign as Aji tops Moto3, Ogden ninth

Rookies reigned supreme at Portimao on Friday as Mario Ajo and Diogo Moreira lead the way in Moto3 practice.

The Honda and KTM riders were matched on mid 2’02 pace by Ricardo Rossi and Carlos Tatay as the afternoon session came to a close with Daniel Holgado’s morning talents enough to secure fifth at the final flag. Britain’s Scott Ogden showcased his confidence at the Algarve International Circuit with the ninth fastest time of the opening day.

A sodden wet Portimao track greeted the Moto3 field as free practice action got underway on Friday morning. Temperatures just above single figures as Tech3 KTM’s Adrian Fernandez became the first victim of the treacherous conditions at turn nine in the opening minutes. Ryusei Yamanaka, Elia Bartolini and Lorenzo Fellon doing likewise at turns four, nine and fifteen respectively before the opening ten minutes were complete.

PruestelGP’s Carlos Tatay headed the initial times with a tentative 2’06.084, Red Bull’s factory rookie Daniel Holgado following, before the CFMoto crashed out at turn four and Sergio Garcia took charge on the GasGas Aspar. The number 11 suffering his own high-speed crash at turn seven with 15-minutes dispatched.

Holgado led the times at the halfway stage with 2’04.266 pace, Garcia and Mario Aji rounding out the top three ahead of Tatay and Rivacold Snipers Andrea Migno. VisionTrack Honda’s Scott Ogden began his Algarve adventure from the edge of the top ten with teammate Josh Whatley three places back, as the pair circulated ahead of both Leopard riders and a number of big hitters in the challenging conditions.

Izan Guevara and Ricardo Rossi joined the leading times as the second half counted down, Aji bettering the pair on his tenth lap of FP1 with Holgado