Nail-biting Moto3 finish: Quiles triumphs at Montmeló, but Carpe's 'green'

Maximo Quiles runs a conservative race and attacks at the end: victory in Catalunya and an all-Spanish podium, Italians disappear. Report and standings.

The calm before the storm: that’s how we can describe Maximo Quiles’s race, as he waits for the final laps to launch his attack. Not decisive at first—he has to fend off a rampant David Munoz—but the slipstream game at the last corner suits him perfectly and here comes the triumph at Montmelo. Second is Alvaro Carpe, who gets the better of the Intact GP rider, even if there’s that small trip onto the green… It changes little, since we’re talking about a fully Spanish podium. The Catalan GP doesn’t disappoint—Moto3 is always a ferocious dogfight—even though, unfortunately, the Italian riders are never among the protagonists; in fact, they sink, literally… Here’s how it went.

The lightning start is from Uriarte ahead of Munoz, Almansa, the poleman Perrone… While Quiles moves all the way to the left, well outside the pack, trying to stay “out of trouble” and slot himself high up. He doesn’t quite make it, but he’s still in the leading group. On the Italian side, not a great start for our riders: Bertelle slips to the edge of the points and Pini tumbles almost to the back, ahead of only a few others including Carraro. Who will end his race a few laps later with a crash… Meanwhile, for Leopard’s Tuscan rider the race gets even more complicated with a Long Lap for causing contact. Long Lap also for rookie Salmela, while up front, as always in Moto3, it’s a fierce fight, initially among eight riders soon breaking away.

They’re mostly Spaniards, but the Malaysian Danish and the aforementioned Argentine Perrone (though remember he was born and raised in Spain) also stand out. Around mid-race, keep an eye on Indonesian rookie Pratama, who claws back the gap to the lead group and dives into the fray, as will O’Gorman later on. At the front, here comes the late-race attack: Quiles, calm for much of the race, takes the lead. But he must be very careful—he’s at risk of a track limits penalty! With two laps to go, Rios’s fine race ends; he had been in the lead group throughout. It won’t be a calm finish: we have to wait for the last corner with Munoz’s attack, Quiles’s prompt reply, and then the photo finish, with Carpe snatching 2nd place. Even though there’s a “mysterious” run onto the green, it has no consequences, and the Iberian podium is confirmed in this order.

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