He may be the youngest, but that didn’t stop Aussie wild card Joel Taylor from earning a top 20 lap time in the first free practice session for the 125cc Grand Prix class at a wet and windy Phillip Island for this weekend’s Iveco Australian Grand Prix weekend.

In a late show from the young gun, Taylor recorded an impressive fastest lap of 2.01.308 to lead the Australian wild card contingent.

Having to wait two hours past their scheduled session because of adverse weather conditions, the wild cards served up a mixed bag, but showed signs of quality during the hour-long run.

Taylor was the first Aussie out of the pits, but it was Jordan Zamora who set the early pace clocking a 2.05.990 to be in third position after 10 minutes of the session.

However, Zamora’s session was over soon after as he came off his bike on his fifth lap, forcing the eager 17-year-old to sit out the remainder of the session.

While Zamora’s time saw him hover around the top 20 for more than half the session, Nicky Diles seized his opportunity, clocking an impressive 2.03.352 to catapult into the top 10 at the half-way mark.

Looking to push the issue Diles suffered engine difficulties as he approached the home straight and came off, ending his session prematurely after nine laps.

After spending the opening stages of the session in the pits, Josh Hook finally emerged and proved his quality, racing into the top 20 with a 2.02.895 on a bike he was riding for the first time.

Hook peppered his time in the following laps and will be excited by the fact he produced the 15th fastest top speed (207.4kph), heading into the business end of the event.

It was a tough session for Levi Day, with the 21-year-old taking a controlled approach with more than an hour and a half of track time before the race on Sunday.

Despite the difficulties, the South Australian completed 14 laps and will be expecting to improve for tomorrow’s second session.

Motorcycling Australia will be following the wild cards all weekend via their GP micro-site.