Máximo Quiles had a perfect weekend, taking the win at the Spanish Grand Prix. He was joined on the podium by Adrián Fernández coming home in 2nd. David Muñoz, took 3rd, in his first race back after breaking his leg at the Malaysian Grand Prix last year.
Quiles led every session, in the dry and wet, showing why he is such a dominant force and favourite for the championship. The win also extends Quiles’ lead in the championship over Álvaro Carpe.
Quiles Fastest on Friday
Máximo Quiles flew to the top of the timings in Friday practice with a 1:44.078. He left it tight to set the fastest lap right at the end of the session. The top three were completed by David Muñoz, only 0.41 seconds behind, and Valentín Perrone, a further 0.2 seconds back.
The morning session got off to a slow start as all the riders got back to their bikes after the USA Grand Prix. The season has had a four-week break, with the Qatar race postponed until November due to the Middle East war. Quiles had 0.7 seconds on the field for most of the session.
By Spanish standards, the track was cold, with an air temperature of 16 °C and a track temperature of 18 °C. As always with Moto3, drama follows the class with this moment between Álvaro Carpe and Zen Mitani.
The afternoon session got warmer, with track temperatures reaching 24 °C. However, the track action was calm. The last 10 minutes were when all the fast laps came in, with the top spot changing three times in the last five minutes of the session.
Quiles goes pole on an all-Spanish front row.
Even with mixed weather conditions, Máximo Quiles converted his Friday pace into pole position for Sunday’s race. Quiles had 0.375 over second-place David Muñoz, and Álvaro Carpe took third on the grid.
Saturday started with some rain, which had dried up before qualifying began. In Q1, there was a team clash within the FRINSA-MT Helmets-MSI squad, with Ryusei Yamanaka feeling that Hakim Danish blocked his line.
Guido Pini, who won the last race in America, qualified only 21st on the grid, quite a fall from the top.
The sophomore rider Ruche Moodley put together an amazing lap time to top the session. The other three who joined him in Q2 were Veda Pratama, Joel Kelso, and Hakim Danish.
A slow start to Q2 was made up for by an intense last five minutes, with the top spot changing between Máximo Quiles, David Muñoz and Adrián Fernández.
A late crash on his last push lap for Fernández took him out of contention for pole. Consequently, he will start from sixth. There was also a massive crash for Veda Pratama towards the end of the session, leaving him starting 17th on Sunday.
Moto3 Grid Top 10:
P1: #28 Máximo Quiles 1:44.070
P2: #54 David Muñoz +0.375
P3: #83 Álvaro Carpe +0.585
P4: #78 Joel Esteban +0.766
P5: #51 Brian Uriarte +0.979
P6: #31 Adrián Fernández +0.979
P7: #66 Joel Kelso +0.997
P8: #22 David Almansa +1.029
P9: #18 Matteo Bertelle +1.082
P10: #13 Hakim Danish +1.203
The Perfect Ending, Quiles Wins.
Before the race even started, there was drama on the start line when Leo Rammerstorfer stalled on the line and had to be taken off the grid while the red lights were on. There was also a first corner crash for Matteo Bertelli when his handlebars were taken out of his hand by Adrián Fernández; no penalty was given.
After the first lap, Máximo Quiles was in the lead, followed by Joel Esteban and David Muñoz. After the first few laps, the race settled down with the top five pulling away from the rest of the field. The top five eventually turned into the top three, with Fernández, Muñoz and Quiles having better pace than the rest.
The winner of the last race, Guido Pini, crashed out on Lap 8. After a poor qualifying position, his weekend went from bad to worse.
The battle for the podium may not have been as simple as the top three thought. Marco Morelli pulled away from the big pack and was catching up to the front three. He was 0.4 seconds faster than them every lap.
In the middle of the pack, the battle was intense, with the field from 5th to 15th. At times, the pack got messy, as in this moment for Esteban. He had to drop one position for this incident.
Quiles got back to the front and pulled away as Morelli caught up to the podium places. The last two laps saw Fernández, Muñoz and Morelli battling for the last podium position. The win went to Quiles, who in the end was unstoppable, followed home by Fernández, Muñoz and Morelli, who had 0.050 seconds covering them over the line.
In Quiles’ post-race interview, he said:
“To win in Spain, at home, is the best feeling I can have.”
Race top 10:
P1: #28 Máximo Quiles
P2: #31 Adrián Fernández +1.991
P3: #54 David Muñoz +2.009
P4: #97 Marco Morelli +2.049
P5: #83 Álvaro Carpe +9.926
P6: #6 Ryusei Yamanaka +10.027
P7: #73 Valentín Perrone +11.526
P8: #22 David Almansa +11.601
P9: #54 Jesús Ríos +11.482 (demoted 2 places post-race)
P10: #78 Joel Esteban +11.647
The next race will be the French Grand Prix at Le Mans.