Brian Uriarte wins the Italian Grand Prix at Mugello. It was the Spanish rider’s first win in his first full season in the Moto3 class. It was a good day all around for the Red Bull KTM Ajo squad, with teammate Álvaro Carpe coming home in second and Hakim Danish in third.
The race was a tight battle all the way till the end, with the top 15 battling for the win for most of the race. All weekend, the grid was close, showcasing how good the riders are right now.
Scott Ogden Fastest on Friday
The British rider, Scott Ogden, left it very late but set the fastest lap and topped Friday. Marco Morelli was second, only 0.036 seconds slower than Ogden, and Adrián Fernández was third fastest.
The morning session wasn’t ideal, with a cold track. That, however, did not stop the Italian fans from coming out in full force to support their local rider, Guido Pini.
As always, the morning session is all about setting the bike up and getting used to the circuit. Mugello is one of the riders’ favourites on the calendar, known for its high speed. Nothing much happened in the session, but it was Fernández who topped the morning session. Joel Esteban and Máximo Quiles were just behind.
The afternoon session came around with better conditions for the riders. This session brings more pressure with places in Q2 up for grabs.
Not long into the session, Danish has a massive highside. He was coming out of turn 14 and slid a long way down the track. Thankfully, he was uninjured and tried to get back on the bike straight away. The session was quite messy with lots of people running wide and passing each other like they were on the last lap of a race.
It was Ogden who found the space to set the best lap of the day. Everyone in the top 19 was covered by less than a second. The championship leader and last race winner, Quiles, was only 14th in the session, not where we are use to seeing him.
David Almansa takes the pole battle
David Almansa takes an impressive pole position at the Italian Grand Prix. He was only 0.018 seconds faster than the Danish, who came second, and Joel Kelso set a lap on his own to take third. As always, the battle for pole position starts in Q1.
The session got off to a steady start, with all the riders setting their banker laps. In Moto3, riders try to find a tow to get their laps as fast as possible due to the slipstream. However, this can lead to people messing around, and on this occasion, eight of the 12 riders in the session missed out on setting their final lap.
This led Brian Uriarte, Hakim Danish, Cormac Buchanan, and Matteo Bertelle to make it through to Q2. Crowd favourite Guido Pini just missed out, finishing fifth.
Q2 eventually got underway with the 18 riders left to find their place on the grid.
The session was very similar to the earlier one, with everyone trying to follow each other to set their fastest laps. This time, 12 riders missed out on their last lap after trying to follow each other and find a tow.
In the end, it was Almansa that finished top of the session and claimed pole position. All the riders in Q2 were covered by 0.992 seconds. First and second in the championship, Quiles and Álvaro Carpe were both outside the top 10.
Qualifying Top 10
P1: #22 David Almansa 1:54.862
P2: #13 Hakim Danish +0.018
P3: #66 Joel Kelso +0.125
P4: #51 Brian Uriarte +0.230
P5: #54 Jesus Rios +0.311
P6: #78 Joel Esteban +0.315
P7: #64 David Muñoz +0.340
P8: #97 Marco Morelli +0.512
P9: #31 Adrián Fernández +0.535
P10: #19 Scott Ogden +0.573
Brian Uriarte wins tight race
Uriarte, on the last lap, managed to pull away from the rest to take his first-ever win. He came across the line 0.418 seconds ahead of his teammate Carpe and Danish in third. The gap at the end of the race really doesn’t show how close the race was.
Before the race even started, there was drama. Pole sitter Almansa was ruled out of the race due to illness. He came down with tonsillitis the morning of the race. As a result, everyone on the grid moved up a position.
Even with Almansa not on the grid, the race still got underway. Everyone made it through Turn One. By the end of the lap, it was Kelso in the lead of the race.
With so many battles, it was hard to keep track of who was where. With the top 18 all together on track, it was anyone’s race for the taking. Quiles was setting the fastest lap in 14th on track and was slowly making his way up the field. The race was a case of pass or be passed with no one wasting any opportunities.
With the nature of the race, we saw some beautiful overtakes. One was very early on in the race from Kelso, going from third to first in one corner.
It was a good day for the GRYD – MLav Racing team with both Kelso and Eddie O’Shea both being involved in the battle for the win for most of the race, just getting beat up at the end of the race. It was a strong race for Honda with at some points it being a 1-2-3 with Fernández getting involved too.
Going into the last lap, it was anyone’s race for the taking, with the top 14 all close in the battle. Uriarte took the lead and managed to pull away while the rest battled behind him, creating a safe gap. There were moments for many riders on the last lap, including O’Shea and Quiles.
In the end it was Uriarte that managed to make the best situation in the messy race. His teammate Carpe managed to claim back 15 points in the championship battle against Quiles. This was the first time that Quiles hadn’t finished first or second in a race all season, he actually finished 11th.
Race top 10
P1: #51 Brian Uriarte
P2: #83 Álvaro Carpe
P3: #13 Hakim Danish
P4: #31 Adrián Fernández
P5: #78 Joel Esteban
P6: #8 Eddie O’Shea
P7: #64 David Muñoz
P8: #9 Veda Pratama
P9: #66 Joel Kelso
P10: #54 Jesus Rios