Máximo Quiles wins the Austrian Grand Prix. After David Almansa crashed out of the lead, this gives Quiles his ninth win of the year. He was joined on the podium by Brian Uriarte in second, and Álvaro Carpe in third.
Almansa fastest on Friday
Almansa topped Friday practice. After topping both the morning and afternoon sessions. Just behind Almansa were Quiles and Carpe, who took second and third on the leaderboard. As a cold morning session got underway riders went out to get familiar with the track.
Due to the cool track conditions, riders had moments, including this crash by Valentín Perrone. He walked away and was back out in the afternoon session. Other than this, the morning session was quite quiet, with little action.
As the afternoon session rolled around, the sun came out, and conditions warmed up. Riders raced out to get better data and set their fastest laps for a chance.
With riders focusing on getting the correct setting on the bike, riders were keeping the session clean. There was this massive moment for Eddie O’Shea where he nearly crashed twice in turn 2.
Even with the temperature change, Almansa managed to maintain the pace set in the morning and nearly set a new lap record while becoming the fastest rider of the day.
Practice Top 10:
P1: #22 David Almansa 1:39.668
P2: #28 Máximo Quiles +0.195
P3: #83 Álvaro Carpe +0.503
P4: #18 Matteo Bertelle +0.522
P5: #51 Brain Uriarte +0.610
P6: #13 Hakim Danish +0.621
P7: #78 Joel Esteban +0.648
P8: #27 Rico Salmela +0.722
P9: #19 Scott Ogden +0.725
P10: #6 Ryusei Yamanaka +0.752
B. Uriarte Sets Pole with a Lap Record
Brian Uriarte takes pole position on Saturday. The lap time of 1:39.544 was a new all-time lap record. Almansa took second on the grid, only 0.064 seconds behind the poleman, with Carpe in third.
Qualifying One:
As always, qualifying starts with riders aiming to make the final four positions in Q2 to secure the best grid slot possible. The 12 riders in the session went out to try to set their fastest times.
The riders in the session managed to stay safe and out of everyone way. The top four fastest riders, therefore advancing to Q2 were, Perrone, David Muñoz, Guido Pini, and O’Shea.
Qualifying Two:
With the top 18 now chosen, it was time for the riders to get out in Q2 and fight for pole. With qualifying so important in this class, making or breaking your race, riders were determined to secure a good grid position.
The beginning part of the session was good with all the riders setting their banker laps. Almansa set the early pace in qualifying as he had all weekend. On the last runs in qualifying, Quiles had a moment that nearly cost him a chance at pole.
On the last lap of session B. Uriarte set a stunning lap time that allowed him to take pole position. After Quiles’ moment earlier in the session, he could not better his lap time. Because of this, Carpe managed to set a faster lap, which knocked Quiles off the front row.
Top 10 in Qualifying:
P1: #51 Brian Uriarte 1:39.544
P2: #22 David Almansa +0.064
P3: #83 Álvaro Carpe +0.315
P4: #28 Máximo Quiles +0.437
P5: #18 Matteo Bertelle +0.773
P6: #19 Scott Ogden +0.783
P7: #66 Joel Kelso +0.967
P8: #78 Joel Esteban +1.020
P9: #64 David Muñoz +1.058
P10: #27 Rico Salmela +1.063
Quiles takes an easy win
Quiles took his ninth win of the season, comfortably winning at the Austrian Grand Prix. Joining him on the podium, the Red Bull KTM Ajo pair of Uriarte in second and Carpe in third.
Just before lights out, there was drama on the grid with Matteo Bertelle stalling his bike. Because of this, he was taken off the grid and had to start from the pit lane instead of his grid position of fifth.
When the grid was cleared, the lights went out, and the race was underway. Uriarte got to turn one and kept his lead. Almansa got past him on the run down to turn two after running wide. This move was seen as a gain, so he had to drop one position.
In the early part of the race, riders across the field were battling for position to keep up with the front pack, which was predicted to break away. Almansa did manage to break away from the group behind him and was in a safe first place. However, he crashed into turn two half way through the race. This handed the lead to Quiles.
As the lead group spread out, the battle in the fourth was heating up, with seven riders locked in a fight. Throughout the race, many riders received long-lap penalties for exceeding track limits. In this group, Joel Esteban got three long-lap penalties for exceeding track limits, and Veda Pratama got one for causing a collision with Muñoz, which resulted in him crashing out.
While all the drama was happening behind, it allowed Quiles to extend his lead further and cruise to the finish line to win the race with a 2.3-second gap to Uriarte in second.
This now takes Quiles’ championship lead even further, with a gap of 131 points to Uriarte in second. There is also a mathematical chance that Quiles can take the world championship in the next round.
Race Top 10:
P1: #28 Máximo Quiles
P2: #51 Brian Uriarte +2.334
P3: #83 Álvaro Carpe +7.394
P4: #8 Eddie O’Shea +20.717
P5: #94 Guido Pini +20.822
P6: #67 Casey O’Gorman +20.948
P7: #11 Adrián Cruces +21.065
P8: #97 Marco Morelli +21.118
P9: #13 Hakim Danish +21.594
P10: #6 Ryusei Yamanaka +21.701
The next race will be held in Mobility Resort Motegi for the Motul Grand Prix of Japan, 2nd-4th October.