Moto3 race at Silverstone: A masterclass from Intact rider David Almansa

Contrary to usual, it was the Moto3 riders who brought the Grand Prix day to a close on the British Isles. The action in the smallest engine capacity class was dominated by Britain’s Scott Ogden. The experienced KTM rider from the CIP team started his home race from pole position. Right alongside Ogden was his team-mate Adrian Cruces.

In contrast, the Moto3 team led by ‘Asp’ Martinez – which had been outstanding up to that point – was left dejected. For the first time, a race took place without World Championship leader Maximo Quiles. Quiles had broken his collarbone in a heavy crash in the final corner. He returned home that very same day. Whilst the riders were preparing for the 15-lap race, Quiles had already undergone surgery and was full of hope that he would soon be back in action.

The good news: there’s another two-week break after the British round, and with a 104-point lead in the standings, the Spaniard’s concerns are likely to be limited – not least because his future as a Moto2 rider with Aspar has long been secured.

Starting in third place behind Valentin Perrone, David Almansa from the German Intact team began the twelfth race of the season. The Spaniard had impressed in practice with consistently fast lap times. The question was: could he ride solo on this fast circuit?

David Almansa seemed determined to answer that question with a resounding ‘yes’. Starting from the second row, the number 22 shot into the lead. Whilst Alvaro Carpe was able to keep up, Ogden dropped back to seventh place on the first lap. However, Almansa was unable to pull away. Carpe, Adrian Fernandez, Brian Uriarte, Valentin Perrone and the two CIP bikes formed a group of seven bikes that pulled away from the field.

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The Austrian Leo Rammerstorfer, who had started from 24th place, had gained a position in the early stages. The SIC58 rider was battling it out with the reserve riders Gonzalez (Intact), Abruzzo (CODE) and Singhapong (Honda Asia).

After a third of the race, the group had grown to eight riders; Joel Esteban had caught up and immediately made further ground. On lap 6, Esteban was listed in 4th place behind Almansa. On the same lap, the CIP team was shocked by the crash of their rider Adrian Cruces. The Spaniard crashed in the final chicane and required medical attention. Just one lap later, the CIP team’s woes were complete, as Local Hero had also been knocked out of the leading group. The Briton was caught out at the same high-speed section that had also knocked Quiles out of the race.

As the second half of the race got underway, David Almansa retook the lead. With the exception of Adrian Fernandez – whose brother had won the MotoGP race an hour earlier – all the riders were on KTMs. After Hakim Danish and Cormach Buchanan had also slipped out, Leo Rammerstorfer found himself in 20th place.

With five laps remaining, David Almansa launched another breakaway attempt, opening up a gap of 0.8 seconds, only to be reeled back in by the group led by Ajo rider Alvaro Carpe. Fernandez, Esteban, Perrone and Uriarte remained part of the group. With three laps to go, Esteban was lucky not to crash after a slip, but he had lost touch with the top five.

The final saw an outstanding performance from David Almansa. The rider from Peter Öttl’s team put in two dominant final laps. The youngster pulled out a half-second lead and crossed the line as the winner for the second time. Brian Uriarte tried to keep up but ended up crashing. His team-mate Alvaro Carpe brought his bike home safely in second place. The final podium spot went to Tech3 rider Valentin Perrone. Adrian Fernandez, the best-placed Honda rider, missed out on the family’s second podium finish by 0.2 seconds.

The final point went to stand-in rider and Red Bull rookie Singhapong. Leo Rammerstorfer completed his first race at Silverstone, finishing 17th for the rookie from the Mühlviertel region. There was applause at Intact-GP not only for the winner: David Munoz’s stand-in, Gonzalez, scored two World Championship points by finishing 14th on his World Championship debut.