Dani Holgado and David Alonso will occupy the second row of the starting grid

The CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team riders had a positive Saturday despite the difficult conditions at the Australian circuit. Dani Holgado took fifth place in qualifying after going through Q1 and will start just ahead of his teammate David Alonso, who was sixth. Diogo Moreira, who took pole position and set a new track record, will lead a front row decided by thousandths, followed by Senna Agius and Manuel González.

The second day of the Australian Grand Prix did not start in the best way for the riders in the intermediate category. The 30-minute session is usually used to work on a race simulation, but between the rain and a red flag due to track conditions, the useful time on track was reduced to such an extent that the CFMOTO Power Electronics Aspar Team riders were unable to work on their pace for Sunday's race. This free practice session was particularly important for Dani Holgado, who had to go through Q1, although he passed it without any complications and as the fastest rider. In Q2, the rookie focused on continuing to improve his times and taking another step forward to secure a spot at the front of the starting grid. Holgado lapped in 1:29 for the first time this weekend and, thanks to an outstanding final lap, will start from fifth position tomorrow. Meanwhile, his teammate David Alonso already secured his direct passage to Q2 yesterday. The Colombian put in a great performance in timed practice, riding alone and improving his feeling with every lap. Like his teammate, Alonso achieved his best result on the last lap, sixth, two tenths of a second off pole position.

5th Dani Holgado 1:29.995 (+0.178): "We finished the second day at Phillip Island with a great qualifying session. More than the result, I'm happy with the work we've done and the progress we've made since yesterday. We've improved a lot in terms of benchmarks, and that has given me more confidence. The first goal is always to improve, so I'm really happy with the result. Tomorrow will be a long and tough race because it's very windy and the temperature is cold. I'm happy because I have a new opportunity to keep improving." 

6th David Alonso 1:30.107 (+0.290): "Today we had a typical Australian day: it dawned sunny, then it rained... This morning we couldn't work on race pace because of the rain, but in qualifying I took a step forward riding alone. I was more determined to go fast with no one in front of me and I was able to play around with the bike more in some places. I'm very happy, I was just a little off in the last sector of the last lap, so we'll continue working on those details. Tomorrow we'll focus on trying to set our best pace during the race."