David Almansa won the Moto3 race in Qatar ahead of Fernandez and Quiles

On paper, things could hardly have gone better for World Championship leader and 2026 champion Maximo Quiles – the Aspar rider dominated every session at the Qatar Grand Prix and consequently secured pole position. On the other hand, Quiles also had to cope with two highside crashes, so Marc Marquez’s protégé had been warned twice over.

Furthermore, World Championship runner-up David Almansa was right next to Aspar rider Quiles on the grid. It was only via Q1 that the KTM Ajo riders Brian Uriarte and Alvaro Carpe managed to secure third and fourth places. The top four were thus lined up in the same order as their positions in the World Championship standings.

Further down the grid were more Spanish riders. David Muñoz, in sixth place, and Honda rider Adrián Fernández, in seventh, were preparing for the 20th race of the season, a 16-lap event. Leo Rammerstorfer from Austria was in 22nd position on his Qatar debut. The sun was still shining over the 5.3 km-long Losail Circuit as the 25 riders, including reserve rider Kgopotso Mononyana from South Africa, set off on the warm-up lap. The air temperature display read a sweltering 36 degrees.

Intact rider Almansa won the long sprint to the first right-hand bend. Quiles, who was contesting his first race at the Losail Circuit, had to slot into third place behind rookie Uriarte. Just a few corners later, the champion was overtaken first by Fernández and Muñoz, and then by Carpe as well.

David Almansa führte das Moto3-Rennen in Katar von Beginn an

Foto: Gold and Goose

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Lusail: Rennen MotoGP

MotoGP World Championship

08.11.2026 - 16:15

At the start of the second lap, Intact rider David Muñoz caused the first incident. Going into a bend, the Spaniard tried to squeeze past Uriarte on the inside but made contact with his compatriot, who went down. The beneficiary was David Almansa, who had already pulled 1.2 seconds clear of the field with the fastest lap. The decision on Munoz came swiftly: a long-lap penalty for the aggressive Spaniard.

After four laps, Maximo Quiles had fought his way back into second place and reduced the gap to Almansa to under a second. Fernandez, Carpe and Salmela were hot on his heels. Behind them, a 1.5-second gap quickly opened up to the chasing pack, led by rookie Veda Pratama. Muñoz, who had quickly served his penalty, was now running in 10th place. Leo Rammerstorfer was making up ground after the start. The Austrian Honda rider was in 19th place after a third of the race, eleven seconds behind Almansa.

The chasing group, including Quiles, quickly dwindled. Rico Salmela was unable to keep up with the pace, whilst Joel Kelso moved into 5th place. At the front, Almansa put his foot down, extending his lead once again to 1.2 seconds. Following a crash involving Kelso’s team-mate Eddie O’Shea, Rammerstorfer moved up to 18th place.

Meanwhile, the drama surrounding David Munoz continued. The Intact rider, having caused the O’Shea crash, appeared far from calm and was once again sent off for a long lap. At the front, however, a flawless David Almansa delighted the Intact team led by Peter Öttl. With six laps to go, his lead had grown to 1.8 seconds and only Fernandez was still able to keep up with Quiles. Carpe had to ease off and was now forced to defend his position against Kelso and Pratama. Meanwhile, Rammerstorfer was slipping down the order, sitting in 21st place ahead of debutant Mononyane.

Zweikampf mit Maximou Quiles und Adrian Fernandez

Foto: Gold and Goose

With three laps to go, the podium places seemed set. Almansa had pulled further ahead by a few tenths of a second, whilst Quiles, rather than attacking for the win, was busy defending second place. A good ten kilometres from the finish, Quiles went wide, allowing Fernandez to slip through.

At the front, David Almansa shone. After a perfect performance, the Intact rider crossed the line as the clear winner. Adrian Fernandez capitalised on Quiles’s weakness and secured second place in the desert. World Champion Maximo Quiles held on to third place.

Behind them, it was a frantic battle. Fourth place went narrowly to Honda rookie Veda Pratama, ahead of Carpe, Kelso and Danish.

David Muñoz still managed to finish in the points after his marathon of penalties, comprising three long-lap laps – eighth place for the hot-headed rider. Leo Rammerstorfer pipped Ruche Moodley once again and finished 20th. The final World Championship point went to newcomer and Aspar rider Marco Morelli.

After the chequered flag, celebrations broke out in three camps. At Intact GP, David Almansa was cheered on; Red Bull KTM Ajo applauded Brian Uriarte for winning the ‘Rookie of the Year’ title; and Jorge Martinez’s CF Moto team celebrated their early victory in the Team World Championship.