David Muñoz gained crucial championship points from his Moto3 race win at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan over the weekend. The #64 rider was clear by nearly two seconds as he crossed the line. There are now only a handful of points separating him, Máximo Quiles and Ángel Piqueras while José Antonio Rueda could be crowned World Champion at the Indonesian Grand Prix. Find out how we got here with the weekend wrap-up below.
Fernández Showcases Late-Stage Pace in FP1
As we began the weekend at the Mobility Resort Motegi, there was only one notable rider replacement. Arbi Aditama donned the Honda Team Asia leathers again, with Tatchakorn Buasri still recovering from injury. It was a welcome return for Matteo Bertelle after his six-month recovery from his crash in the Moto3 race at the Grand Prix of the Americas.
For the home crowd, there were two Japanese riders to cheer on. Ryusei Yamanaka had a lot to celebrate coming into the weekend with his 2026 ride secured. While Taiyo Furusato’s Moto3 future is uncertain, he looked strong early on. There was no love lost between Valentín Perrone and Muñoz after their incident in the Moto3 race at Misano. The #64 went fastest before coming unstuck through the double apex in Turns 1 and 2.
Quiles made a risky overtake on Jacob Roulstone. In the end, it was Adrián Fernández, Piqueras, and Rueda who rounded out the top 3 of the session. Despite a clean session, Luca Lunetta spun out at Turn 10 after the checkered flag.
Muñoz Quietly Advances Through to Q2
Rueda was the first out on track for the afternoon Practice session on Friday. With barely any cloud cover, the sun was scorching down on the riders as they made their way around the Motegi circuit. Within five minutes, fast times came sweeping in and riders tumbled down the order. But it was Fernández’s Leopard Racing teammate, David Almansa, who came out on top. There’s still speculation about what is happening with their rider lineup for 2026. A few weeks ago, it seemed like both Fernández and Almansa would be looking elsewhere for a ride. But now the paddock is waiting to see who will ride alongside Guido Pini.
It didn’t help either rider’s case as both crashed, Fernández in Turn 14 and Almansa at Turn 9. Yellow flags came out again in Turn 9 for Yamanaka. The #6 was holding his left wrist as he walked off with the marshals. He did ride the bike back, but he kept his left arm off the handlebars and was shortly off to the medical centre. Yamanaka made it back out in time to get a final lap and finished third. Almansa came down for the second time at Turn 11. Luckily for him his lap time was enough to place fifth. While we didn’t see too much of Muñoz in the Practice session, he took the top spot on the timesheet with a lap time of 1:55.234.
Kelso Strongest on Saturday Morning in FP2
It was a slightly cooler start for the Free Practice 2 session in Moto3. Bertelle was first out of the box with the rest of the grid following on. Coming into this weekend, there were no real expectations for the #18 to perfom. But after advancing straight into Q2, the Italian took a back-seat approach to FP2 as his LevelUP-MTA teammate, Joel Kelso, steered clear of an overtaking battle between Eddie O’Shea and Quiles.
Fernández pushed the limits and found them as he went wide onto the grass coming out of Turn 14. O’Shea also carved a line in the dirt at the same corner. Cormac Buchanan came off at Turn 10, the Kiwi struggling to get his bike started again. Kelso came up fastest with a lap time of 1:55.177, with no one coming close to beating his time as the session ended.
Quiles had been following closely, but washed out at Turn 11. The #28 did manage to bring his bike back to the pit lane, pieces of the rear flapping in the wind as he went. As the checkered flag waved, Foggia was parked at Turn 10 and walking back to the pit lane.
Rueda Takes Pole in Q2 for KTM Front Row Lockout
A swarm of Moto3 riders came flying out of the pit lane as the first qualifying session began. But not all of them were on track. Nicola Carraro had withdrawn due to illness. This dropout left only one rider for the Rivacold Snipers Team, Ricardo Rossi, to battle it out. Unfortunately, he qualified on the back row of the grid.
Roulstone looked fast, but as he made it past Álvaro Carpe, the #12 lost the front in Turn 9. With little time for repairs, Roulstone had no choice but to complete the session on a scratched bike. The top four spots were decided after the clock reached zero, with Stefano Nepa, Carpe, Marco Morelli, and Buchanan promoted to Q2.
The Q1 graduates joined Muñoz, Rueda, Yamanaka, Piqueras, Almansa, Perrone, Fernández, Kelso, Furusato, Pini, Bertelle, Lunetta, Quiles, and Dennis Foggia. As the temperatures rose at Motegi, so did the pressure and tension in Q2. Rueda knocked Muñoz off the top spot as Quiles was called back to the box. Carpe kicked up dirt in the final corner but remained within the top ten.
Bertelle was unable to set a lap time until the final minute, while his teammate, Kelso, stormed ahead to provisional pole. In the final minute, Carpe came down at the apex of Turn 1. His crash forced many to pull out of their final laps, but his Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate, Rueda, managed to keep momentum and steal pole position from Kelso. Perrone came out of nowhere to finish second in the session, demoting Kelso to third.
All Spanish Lockout in Moto3 Grand Prix
Some housekeeping before the race began: Almansa and Foggia started at the back of the grid for slow riding during qualifying. Pini was also handed a double long lap penalty for being slow on the racing line during qualifying. Furusato had a stunning start from the second row, as did Muñoz, Carpe, and Quiles. Meanwhile, Aditama crashed at Turn 3 before completing a lap, and Noah Dettwiler went down a lap later.
Light spots of rain began to fall, increasing in frequency with each lap. Unlike MotoGP, there are no bike swaps in this class in the event of rain after the race start. It’s on the FIM race directors to decide whether it is still safe for riders to continue. Although the rain never became heavy enough to necessitate such a call, it certainly impacted the riders in the front pack. Kelso fell from the top three to eighth, the Leopard Racing riders bumped together, and Carpe raised his hand in an effort to signal race direction. Sunshine eventually broke through, halting the pouring rain. But it was a little too late as Furusato came down heavily on the exit of Turn 2. The Japanese rider attempted to rejoin, but crashed again a short distance further down the track.
Scott Ogden was told to drop a position for overtaking during yellow flag conditions. Piqueras made a crucial error in Turn 10, crashing and then rejoining. Almansa had stormed through from twenty-fourth to a potential podium finish. However, it wasn’t meant to be as the #22 crashed a few laps shy of the finish line. As usual, it was a nail-biting battle for second and third. In the end, Perrone lost out as Rueda and Quiles stormed over the line.