Look at this, my friends. Out in the sunshine at Assen, Joel Kelso put on an absolute clinic to rocket straight to P1 on the opening day of Moto3 action. Driving for GRYD Racing, the #66 machine simply flew, and it marks the very first session he has led all through 2026. That puts him right in the box seat for the remainder of the weekend.
Kelso laid down a stunning 1'40.918s lap, leaving him as the only rider anywhere near the 1'40s bracket. When the dust settled, he held an advantage of 0.216s over the chasing pack, though the sheer closeness of this grid is wild: less than a second covered the top 18 riders.
Behind the pacesetter, the machinery from the wing of winged wheel made a sweeping statement by locking out the top three positions. Guido Pini of Leopard Racing grabbed second for one of his finest sessions since the championship returned to Europe. Rounding out that Honda 1-2-3, Eddie O’Shea delivered fantastic form for GRYD Racing to claim what is comfortably his best session of the year so far, finishing 0.146s clear of Marco Morelli from CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team.
Looking further down the order, the international flavor of the class was on full display with six different nationalities sitting at the front. Adrian Cruces paved the way for CIP GreenPower just ahead of Rico Salmela, who was repping Red Bull KTM Tech3. Meanwhile, David Almansa bounced back from a tumble at Turn 1 to salvage P8 for LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP.
As for the major players in the title hunt, Championship leader Maximo Quiles had to settle for P11 aboard his CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team entry. But the toughest pill to swallow on the day went to Valentin Perrone, with the Argentinean rider struggling to find the pace and missing the cut entirely down in P26 for Red Bull KTM Tech3.
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