Losail, Moto3 qualifying: After a nasty FP1 crash, fastest time for champion Quiles

Even before the crucial qualifying session, the Moto3 riders had already caused quite a stir. Leading the way was class leader Maximo Quiles. The Aspar rider and newly crowned Moto3 champion had initially dominated FP1, but then crashed heavily on his final lap whilst riding a KTM in CF Moto colours. Another Spanish rider also came unstuck. David Muñoz from the German Intact team didn’t even manage three laps.

Whilst Quiles and Muñoz were able to recover from their crashes and take part in qualifying under the floodlights, Matteo Bertelle – who had also crashed in FP1 – had to sit out with a broken hand. A rookie also took to the track to compete for the 14 Q2 places. South African Kgopotso Mononyane is standing in for the injured New Zealander Cormach Buchanan in Qatar.

After the first ten minutes, the qualifying session was dominated by Asian youngsters: Veda Pratama ahead of Hakim Danish and Zen Mitani. Then qualifying specialist David Almansa took the lead. The Intact GP rider set the fastest time over several laps and was the benchmark after the first wave – 2:04.374 mins for Almansa.

Intact-Held David Almansa wurde Zweiter

Foto: Gold and Goose Photography

Less than five minutes later, the KTM rider with number 22 had slipped to third place. Hakim Danish and Quiles had beaten the fastest time by one hundredth of a second. David Munoz appeared visibly shaken. Halfway through the 35-minute session, the Spaniard was in 22nd place, just ahead of Leo Rammerstorfer. Meanwhile, Honda rider Joel Kelso had taken the lead as the fifth rider. Behind him were now KTM Ajo rider Alvaro Carpe, ahead of Danish, Quiles and the World Championship runner-up, David Almansa.

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The final stages of the session were full of excitement, as the top 14 riders on the Losail Circuit were bunched within 0.6 seconds for a long time. It all kicked off with attacks from the championship frontrunners. Quiles clocked 2:04.4 minutes, then Almansa topped the field. The Intact rider lapped the desert circuit in 2:03.372 minutes. Quiles wasn’t about to let that stand – the number 28 rider went two tenths faster still. Meanwhile, Danish and Pratama had moved up to third and fourth ahead of Kelso. But third place was once again up for grabs – this time going to the impressive David Munoz.

David Munoz fuhr im Moto3-Zeittraining die drittschnellste Zeit

Foto: Gold & Goose

Rico Salmela was the best rookie after qualifying. The Finn from the French Tech3 team qualified sixth, securing a direct place in Q2. Whilst Maximo Quiles finished as the fastest rider ahead of Almansa, there was great frustration at Red Bull KTM Ajo. Both their top riders, Alvaro Carpe and Brian Uriarte, must enter Q1 on Saturday. Things also went badly for the Austrian rider in the field – 23rd place for Leo Rammerstorfer, two seconds off the pace.