Friday at the Australian Grand Prix ended with Luca Lunetta narrowly missing out on direct entry to Q2, while Celestino Vietti finished outside the top 14 in Practice. Both the Beta Tools SpeedRS Team riders will therefore have to contest Q1 on Saturday, aiming to secure a place in the next qualifying session.

In the first free practice session, Lunetta finished in 18th position with a time of 1’31.540, while Vietti ended FP1 in 26th place with a time of 1’32.290. In the afternoon, number 32 showed encouraging progress, coming very close to securing direct qualification for Q2. Just 0.036 seconds separated him from his target, meaning he will have to go through Q1 tomorrow.

Friday proved more challenging for Celestino. The rider from Ciriè and his team worked on several set-up changes in an attempt to improve his feeling on the bike and find greater competitiveness at the Australian circuit. However, the adjustments were not enough to reach the top 14. Number 13 finished Practice in 25th position with a time of 1’31.586, meaning he too will have to contest Q1.

CELESTINO VIETTI #13: P25 in 1’31.586

“It was a difficult day, during which we tried to improve the situation by working on several different solutions, but we still haven’t managed to find the right feeling to be competitive. We need to analyse the data collected today and understand where we can make improvements ahead of tomorrow. We’ll start from Q1 and give it our all to try to secure a place in Q2”.

LUCA LUNETTA #32: P15 in 1’30.839

“It was a positive Friday. The track is beautiful, and since this is the last time here, we need to try to enjoy it. We missed out on Q2 by just 30 thousandths of a second, so it’s always a little frustrating to fall short by such a small margin. I’m feeling confident about the weekend because the feeling with the bike is good. I’m really eager to do well!”.