Assen: Honda riders dominated Moto3 qualifying; Quiles in luck

The sweltering heatwave has not spared Assen either. With temperatures reaching 33 degrees, the Moto3 riders kicked off an afternoon of thrilling qualifying sessions near Groningen. The field for the tenth GP event of the season features the same line-up as at the youngsters’ last meeting in Brno. As on the previous occasion, one replacement rider joined the 25 confirmed regular starters. Marcos Uriarte is once again standing in for the injured Intact rider David Muñoz.

The 35-minute session got underway with a slight delay – a red flag during the Bagger World Cup free practice had caused a minor disruption to the schedule. Ajo rider Alvaro Carpe had topped the timesheets in the free practice session for the smallest engine capacity class. The World Championship runner-up lapped the historic circuit faster than his World Championship rivals David Almansa (2nd) and Maximo Quiles. Brno winner Hakim Danish was still listed in 11th place earlier in the morning.

In qualifying, the Malaysian quickly moved up to second place, but then had to recover from a near-crash. Meanwhile, familiar Moto3 faces emerged at the top of the timesheets. David Almansa and Alvaro Carpe moved up the order, as did Honda rider Joel Kelso, who had set the initial benchmark time of 1:41.335 minutes.

The session was going well when, ten minutes in, David Almansa slid out whilst entering Turn 1. The uninjured Spaniard’s KTM had to be taken back to the Intact pit via the service lane. The timing screen showed that conditions had not improved in the heat. After the first wave of attempts to secure one of the 14 Q2 places, the positions remained unchanged for a long time.

Kelso, Almansa, Carpe, Quiles, O’Shea, Danish, Yamanka, Pini, O’Gorman, Bertelle – that was the top 10 with 15 minutes remaining on the clock. Whilst Snipers rookie Jesus Rios was provisionally in 14th place – the final Q2 spot – Austrian Leo Rammerstorfer was listed in last place, 1.9 seconds behind.

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28.08.2026 - 08:55

Shortly before the end, there was a hair-raising moment for World Championship leader Quiles. In the fast final left-hand bend before the chicane, the Aspar rider collided with Adrian Fernandez (Leopard). Fernandez was travelling at a much slower pace on the racing line before turning into the pits. Bad timing – Quiles only just missed his slower compatriot.

Peter Öttl’s Moto3 team had worked quickly. Ten minutes before the end of the crucial session, David Almansa was able to return to the track – he hadn’t lost a single position during the enforced break. Five minutes before the chequered flag, the riders went all out for a fast lap. The order was almost completely turned on its head. Whilst found four tenths and consolidated P1, Guido Pini shot up to 2nd ahead of Eddie O’Shea, Morelli and Cruces, whilst Almansa slipped to 8th behind Carpe, and Quiles even dropped as far as 11th.

In the final minute, yellow flags were waved following crashes by Bertelle and O’Gorman. Several riders had their decisive lap disallowed. As a result, Joel Kelso’s time of 1:40.918 was enough for the fastest lap, ahead of Pini and Kelso’s team-mate Eddie O’Shea. This meant the top three places at Assen went to Honda riders. Almansa and Quiles remained in P7 and P11, but secured direct qualification for Q2. Adrian Fernandez was the last Moto3 rider to qualify directly for the second qualifying session. Leo Rammerstorfer closed the gap to 1.5 seconds but could not move beyond 25th place.