Welcome back to Moto3, where the drama continues right up to the last stretch. In a photo finish for the ages, David Almansa not only claimed the first win of the 2026 Moto3 season at the Chang International Circuit, but also his first ever in the class. With many new names and some familiar faces in new colours, it was certainly a great introduction to the 2026 Moto3 World Championship at the Thailand Grand Prix. We’ve got all the major talking points from every session as well as the Moto3 race results below.
Fernández Battles the Moto3 Grid For the Top Time in FP1
The first official session of the 2026 Moto3 season got underway very quickly as riders zipped out for thirty-five minutes around the track. The one to watch for the championship this year, Máximo Quiles, went straight to the top of the timeboard with a lap of 1:43.572. Adrián Fernández beat that time by nearly eight-tenths of a second, but Quiles answered with another flying lap and a time of 1:42.084, before eventually cracking into the 1:41s.
The two Spaniards continued to swap times well into the second runs, but the red sectors were lighting up for a number of riders. This included Red Bull KTM Ajo veteran Álvaro Carpe and Honda Team Asia rookie Veda Pratama. In the final seconds, Fernández clinched the top spot through high traffic, followed by Joel Kelso as he adapted to the switch from a KTM machine to a Honda. Fernández’s former teammate, Almansa, finished third fastest overall.
Wet Surfaces and Traffic Create Challenges in Practice
In the Practice session, it was drama from the very start. A puddle of water almost caught out two Red Bull KTM riders from a previous downpour, a warning of what was to come. Unfortunately, Rico Salmela was not so lucky the second time, crashing for the first time in Moto3 after touching the white line of Turn 8. Reports of rain falling on the track came in soon after, intensifying the pressure.
Jesús Rios and Almansa had a small moment, doing well to avoid each other as the time attacks increased. For Almansa, he was doing everything he could to keep his place at the top of the timeboard with a lap of 1:41.533. But he did run wide at a few turns for his efforts, giving Quiles the opportunity to take the spot with his cleaner runs. That is, until he had an incident at Turn 5, forcing him to abort the lap. We had the first epic save of the year from FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI rookie Hakim Danish. The #13 was simultaneously lucky and unlucky, with the save forcing him to abort his final lap time.
Almansa decided to head into the Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP garage, clearly confident he had done enough, and it was. Although it was close, with twenty riders finishing within one second of each other.
Almansa Leads Incident-Heavy FP2 Session
At the start of Saturday’s Free Practice 2 session, Carpe had an incredibly close moment at Turn 3, threading the needle between SIC58 Squadra Corse riders Casey O’Gorman and Leo Rammerstorfer to avoid an incident. Kelso also fell victim to the same corner, overcommitting to the turn before sliding out. Matteo Bertelle was also claimed by Turn 3 before remounting.
Guido Pini was a little late on brakes but managed to slip past Danish to keep momentum without losing the front end. Salmela had his second crash of the weekend at Turn 5, while David Muñoz got all out of shape through a few turns. Due to so many incidents, there were few chances for time attacks. But Almansa managed to pull it off, keeping the top spot with a 1:40.922.
The First Pole of the 2026 Moto3 Season
Riders battling it out in the Q1 session came streaming out of the pit lane as soon as the green light. Both GRYD – MLav Racing riders worked in tandem to get into the top spots, quickly joined by Bertelle and Adrián Cruces. But it all got messy as the clock ticked down, and Eddie O’Shea was pushed out of the top spots by Danish, Muñoz, and Salmela. Meanwhile, Kelso managed to stay in and move through to Q2.
No one was pulling back when it came to flying laps. Pratama set his fastest lap of the weekend, while Carpe went straight to the top with a 1:40.518. With a quick stop in the garages, riders were back out for the final shot at pole for Sunday’s main race. Unfortunately for Valentín Perrone, his out lap ended in a disaster as he came down in Turn 12. He did cling on to pull the clutch lever before riding back to Red Bull KTM Tech 3, minus a brake protector.
After that point, it all started getting very tight and very fast. But many were being pushed out or chose to pull out of their laps as the checkered flag waved. Not so for Almansa. The Spaniard not only claimed the first pole of the season, but also broke the all-time lap record. This was previously held by last year’s Moto3 World Champion José Antonio Rueda.
A Photo-Finish and Epic Battle for Third
The lights went out for the first 2026 Moto3 race of the year, with Quiles getting an excellent launch off the line. However, Almansa made his move from the right-hand side to take back the lead. A lap later, Ryusei Yamanaka had a nasty tumble at Turn 5. The Japanese rider had a strong but quiet weekend until this incident.
Cormac Buchanan had a soft crash in Turn 1, ending his race early. Last year, the Kiwi held the unenviable title of the rider with the most crashes across all three classes. Pini had an incident, coming off his bike, but was able to remount. While the battle between Almansa and Quiles continued, the real fight was for the third spot on the podium. Carpe had a few moments that cost him, and was quickly passed by Fernández, Pratama and Perrone. But the #83 was not down and out, pushing back up into fourth directly behind Pratama.
Going into Lap 12, Quiles made his move at Turn 12 to slip past Almansa. Pratama went wide, leaving the space wide open for Carpe to come back. Perrone also found an opportunity to slip past to place behind him. Quiles went too hot coming into Turn 1, putting Almansa back in the lead, while Fernández divebombed to put himself back into third.
With a late lunge on Almansa at the final corner, Quiles pushed it for a photo finish across the line. But by three thousandths of a second, or the width of a front wheel, Almansa managed to clinch the win. Perrone managed to pass and keep the others at bay to finish in third.