Almansa (Intact GP) after finishing second at Aragon: “I’m a bit frustrated”

Moto3 ace David Almansa enjoyed an almost perfect weekend at Aragon. He was the fastest rider on the track in every practice session, including qualifying. The Intact rider therefore started Sunday’s race as the favourite from pole position. Almansa set the pace for ten laps before being overtaken by championship leader Maximo Quiles. Almansa briefly dropped back to fourth place, but he kept fighting. On the final lap, he gave it his all once more and crossed the finish line in second place – 0.264 seconds behind Quiles.

“To be honest, I’m a bit frustrated because, having given it our all all weekend, we naturally wanted to win,” said a disappointed Almansa. “But that’s just how it goes in racing. It was still a great race, though, and I felt pretty good. From lap 10 or 11, there was a small gap, and then, four or five laps from the end, another rider made a mistake and went wide, creating a big gap. And when I tried to close that gap, I completely ruined my tyres.”

Almansa konnte sich lange vor Quiles halten

Foto: Gold & Goose

World Championship standings: Close battle for second place

With his second place in Aragon, David Almansa reduced the gap in the World Championship standings to five points behind second-placed Alvaro Carpe (KTM Ajo), who finished fourth in the race. He currently trails leader Maximo Quiles by 102 points. “We’re still happy, though, because I gave 100 per cent right up to the final corner, and we’re satisfied with that,” said Almansa. “A great performance this weekend. Many thanks to everyone in the team for their support.”

Intact team manager Peter Öttl praised his rider’s performance: “We can be very pleased with the weekend in Aragon. David Almansa dominated all practice sessions and also secured first place in qualifying. That was his fifth pole position this year. He led the race for a very long time, although he may have put a bit more strain on his tyres than Quiles. Nevertheless, only 0.2 seconds separated the two at the finish, and he managed to close the gap twice. His fighting spirit ultimately secured him second place. Congratulations to him and his team.”