Moto3 Indonesia: Uriarte Takes Pole Amid Yellow Flags and Crashes, Quiles Goes Down

Brian Uriarte claimed pole position for Moto3 in Indonesia in a qualifying session broken up by yellow flags, crashes and deleted laps. The Spanish rider from the Ajo team did it all on his first attempt, and no one was able to get close to him thereafter. World Championship leader Maximo Quiles also crashed during the session and will start tomorrow from the second row.

It is a significant result, because Quiles has his first match point for the title at Mandalika: as reported in recent days, a victory on Sunday would be enough to seal the championship, regardless of the results of Almansa, Carpe and Uriarte himself. Even in pre-qualifying, as we reported in Moto3 Indonesia, Almansa refuses to give in: ahead of Quiles in pre-qualifying too, Bertelle 3rd, the championship had refused to be decided early.

The day opened with Q1 dominated by Scott Ogden. The Briton clocked 1'37"736 on his first attempt, with a lead of more than two tenths over the chasing pack. Hakim Danish, David Munoz and Leo Rammerstorfer joined him in progressing to Q2.

Uriarte immediately set the pace in Q2 with the Ajo-team KTM: 1'36"861, the only time below the 1'37" barrier. That time remained at the top of the standings until the chequered flag, despite a second series of attempts once again disrupted by unexpected incidents.

The first stoppage was caused by Rico Salmela, who crashed at Turn 10; the yellow flags led to several laps being deleted. During the second attack, Casey O'Gorman fell at Turn 1. In the closing stages, several riders set their best-ever sector times, but no one managed to put together a lap fast enough to beat Uriarte.

After the first run, Quiles was second. Then came the mistake at Turn 16: the Aspar rider crashed, but picked up his KTM himself. The bike was practically undamaged, allowing him to return to the pits without any serious consequences. During the second phase of the session, however, his rivals overtook him and the Spaniard slipped to sixth place.

He will therefore start from the second row alongside the Leopard Hondas of Adrian Fernandez and Guido Pini. Ahead of him is Uriarte's closest challenger, David Almansa: the IntactGP rider finished just 87 thousandths behind and will start second. Alvaro Carpe completes the front row, 243 thousandths off pole.

The home crowd can celebrate Veda Pratama, seventh and leading the third row. The Indonesian will be joined by Matteo Bertelle, eighth, followed by Adrian Cruces and Casey O'Gorman, who complete the top 10 despite his crash. A difficult day, meanwhile, for Leo Rammerstorfer: after making it through Q1, he lost almost two seconds to the fastest time in Q2 and will start seventeenth.

On Sunday, the equation is simple: Quiles needs to win to be crowned champion at Mandalika, but he will have to do so from sixth on the grid, with Uriarte, Almansa and Carpe all starting ahead of him.

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