After a gripping front lead battle, José Antonio Rueda reigned victorious over Joel Kelso at his home race at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. There was plenty more to celebrate for the Red Bull KTM Ajo team, with Álvaro Carpe coming in third and securing the Teams’ Championship title. Throughout the weekend at the Australian GP, the Moto3 grid experienced a hodgepodge of weather conditions. Read on for the lowdown on the action as well as the Moto3 race results.
Miller Corner Proves Tricky in Free Practice 1
Before the weekend’s first session, we had to acknowledge the two riders who had not made the journey down under. After breaking his leg during the Moto3 feature race at the Indonesian GP, David Muñoz was absent due to surgery recovery, with Brian Uriate making his Moto3 debut.
Dennis Foggia was also MIA after being diagnosed with pneumonia. In his place was Moto3 returnee Joel Esteban. The Spaniard has made numerous Moto3 appearances as a rider replacement since his 2024 season run. Tatchakorn Buasri received his first welcome back to Moto3, falling at Turn 4, otherwise known as Miller Corner. Guido Pini was almost caught at the same section as Uriarte took a spin right in front of him. David Almansa was another victim of Turn 4, quickly rejoining the track. The newly crowned Moto3 World Champion, Rueda, nearly came unstuck but kept upright.
Carpe took a detour on the grass coming down to Turn 2, as Máximo Quiles topped the timesheet ahead of the two Leopard Racing riders. But it wasn’t long before Adrián Fernández took the honour of fastest on track, while his Leopard Racing teammate dropped his bike for the second time in the session. Quiles dodged a seagull as he returned to the circuit, the first encounter of the weekend with the local wildlife.
Cormac Buchanan was flipped off at Turn 4, but he did well to get back up and on the bike again. Valentín Perrone added another impressive save to his resume as he entered Turn 12, while Esteban was not so lucky at Turn 2. A dry line formed in the final minute. But it wasn’t enough to knock Fernández off with his lap time of 1:44.461.
Another Leopard Racing One-Two in Friday Practice
Another thirty-five minutes ticked down as the all-important Practice session began in spectacular fashion. One of the home heroes of the weekend, Kelso, was the leader that everyone wanted to follow, Fernández getting the advantage on the Australian to beat him to the top of the timesheet in the first ten minutes. The other compatriot on track, Jacob Roulstone, did what he could to prove his bad luck was behind him, landing in the top fourteen to advance to Q2. The #12 is still looking for a ride in 2026, but a mechanical failure sent him back to the pit lane in the opposite direction.
Carpe had another brush with the grass at the same place he did in Free Practice 1. The #83 managed to make significant performance improvements to secure a spot in Q2, while his Red Bull KTM Ajo teammate, Rueda, did the same. Ángel Piqueras and Pini rubbed elbows, but it was the former who advanced further up the board. Everyone came out in a string of time attack shootouts in the final minutes. But once again, it was Almansa and Fernández who took the top two spots at the conclusion of the session.
Rain Interrupts A Near-Quiet Free Practice 2
With much drier weather conditions, the Moto3 pack set out for the morning Free Practice 2 session. It was all quiet cruising around Phillip Island until Quiles had a massive off at Turn 8. The #28 looked winded as he struggled to catch his breath. That effectively ended his morning session. A train of riders flew along the circuit, flying laps being set one after the other. Piqueras had a very near miss, managing to stay on the bike on what would have been an extremely nasty crash.
With ten minutes remaining, the clear blue skies from a few minutes were gone as heavy rain started to fall. Most of the riders immediately returned to the pit lane. However, Almansa was too late and came off in his third crash of the weekend. It seemed like the clock would run out with no more riders coming out of the box, but Fernández and Taiyo Furusato came out on wet tyres in the last minute in what seemed like an odd decision. In the end, Kelso secured the fastest lap time of 1:34.985.
Kelso Claims Pole on Home Soil
The contest for an advancement from Q1 to Q2 got underway with fifteen minutes on the clock. Ruché Moodley came off at the hairpin of Turn 10 within the first five minutes, while his Densii Racing – BOE teammate, Buchanan, clung on to the top four after a major mistake at Turn 4. Matteo Bertelle topped the timesheet with a lap of 1:35.077. Nicola Carraro and Marco Morelli got their final flying laps in the last minute, fast enough to make it into Q2.
The Q1 graduates joined Almansa, Fernández, Carpe, Piqueras, Kelso, Pini, Rueda, Quiles, Luca Lunetta, Stefano Nepa, Roulstone, Furusato, Esteban, and Ryusei Yamanaka. Early time attacks came through, pushing riders off a provisional front row box. However, it was Kelso who broke the record in his final flying lap, improving on his first time by nearly half a second. The #66 broke the all-time lap record with a 1:34.056. This left second place to Rueda, and a mammoth performance from Lunetta put the Italian in third.
Two Riders Charge Ahead, One Clinches the Win
It almost looked like two home heroes could be on the podium. But Roulstone took an early exit at Sector 2, the #12 understandably frustrated at losing what could have been a career-best finish. Piqueras went wide coming out of the final corner, riding through wet grass and gravel to rejoin on the main straight. Almansa and Riccardo Rossi served their long lap penalties early on. But only the #22 finished the race in the points.
The stage was set for Kelso to take his first Moto3 win in front of a home crowd. But despite keeping close to Rueda’s rear tyre, the Aussie took a well-earned second place on the podium. While the two riders were separated from the chasing group by nearly twelve seconds, it was the battle for third that provided the fireworks. Eight riders were in with chance of the final podium spot. There were some close calls and daring overtakes between Quiles, Fernández, and Carpe over the course of the race. But it was #83 who pulled away and claimed third for himself.