Red-hot Moto3 duel: Almansa edges Quiles at the photo finish, Italians off the pace

Almansa from pole to a razor-thin victory over Quiles, Perrone 3rd, Italians scattered... Report and standings from the Thailand GP.

It all comes down to the last two corners, with David Almansa triumphing over Maximo Quiles at the end of an extremely tight duel for the Moto3 win at Buriram. Just 3 thousandths separate them at the finish line! It’s no less of a fight behind them: four fierce contenders for the 3rd step of the podium, which goes to Valentin Perrone ahead of Alvaro Carpe, super rookie Veda Pratama, and Adrian Fernandez. No glory for our riders... Here’s how the first GP of 2026 went.

First race of the season, with Almansa on pole position with an outright record, Guido Pini 9th, and various surprises in qualifying. We’re off! Almansa, Quiles, Carpe, and Fernandez get the best launch, followed by Yamanaka and Pratama, while Pini loses a couple of positions and even has a scary moment, fortunately without consequences. Yamanaka, however, ends his race at Turn 5 on Lap 2 with a half-highside. He looks in pain, but fortunately gets back up and even restarts. Shortly after, Buchanan also goes down—last year he had the unfortunate record for most crashes across all classes... And unfortunately at Turn 12, Pini crashes too; he gets going again but his race is compromised. Up front, six riders have carved out a small gap to the rest, until Almansa and Quiles break away to reserve the duel for victory for themselves.

It seems everyone is struggling a bit with the heat; there’s no shortage of jolts and small off-track moments. But that doesn’t slow the battle—quite the opposite—even if the leaders’ showdown will have to wait until the very end. There are a few attempts earlier, but the fight ignites on the last lap: near the end Quiles strikes back, but Almansa responds and grabs the favorable line out of the final corner. They arrive side by side, only 3 thousandths between them! Further back, Valentin Perrone prevails in the podium fight, ahead of Alvaro Carpe, Veda Pratama, and Adrian Fernandez. Also on the record: a crash and retirement for Matteo Bertelle, already out of the points...