Moto3 race, Sachsenring: Uriarte ahead of Quiles, horrific crash for Joel Esteban

In 2026, Saxony treated the MotoGP to remarkably stable weather. On race day too, the historic circuit – which will celebrate ‘100 Years of the Sachsenring’ in 2027 – was in top condition. Under light cloud cover and a pleasant air temperature of 23 degrees, the 24 Moto3 riders lined up for the eleventh race of the 2026 season.

The rookies had made their mark in qualifying. With KTM-Ajo rider Brian Uriarte on pole, Marco Morelli and Hakim Danish – all three rookies – had secured the front row. But with Maximo Quiles and Alvaro Carpe, the World Championship’s top riders were lurking right behind them in fourth and fifth places. Rico Salmela, also in his first GP season, had secured the second row in Q2.

No regular rider lined up for the German Intact team at their home Grand Prix. David Munoz was also standing in for Marcos Uriarte (20th on the grid), whilst World Championship bronze medallist David Almansa was forced to pull out on Saturday due to a recurrence of a sore throat. The only German-speaking rider, Leo Rammerstorfer, had high hopes. The Austrian had impressed in FP2 with 7th place, but could not manage better than 21st in qualifying.

At 11 am, the 250cc prototypes stormed into the warm-up lap and two minutes later, the international battle for points got underway in Germany. The riders on the front row kept their nerve. Brian Urirarte confidently converted his pole position into a lead. Marco Morelli set off in pursuit. Behind them, Alvaro Carpe had moved up to third place on the first lap, whilst Hakim Danish dropped from third to sixth.

At the start of the second lap, the marshals had their hands full at Turn 1. Four young riders – Kelso, Marco Uriarte, Carraro and Perrone – got in each other’s way. Whilst the Honda riders Kelso and Carraro and the Intact rider Uriarte were able to rejoin the field, the race was over for the Argentine Perrone.

At the front, Brian Urirate tried to pull away with two fastest laps, but Maximo Quiles had taken the lead within the chasing group and quickly reduced the gap to the leading Ajo rookie to 0.2 seconds. After five laps, a group of five comprising Urirate, Quiles, Carpe, Morelli and Salmela had pulled 1.5 seconds clear of Jesús Ríos in sixth place. Meanwhile, Leo Rammerstorfer was battling in a third group in 17th place.

With a third of the 23-lap race behind the Moto3 riders, the five-way battle at the front continued. In the midfield, there was a violent crash. CIP rider Adrian Cruces skidded in the infamous Turn 7; his compatriot Joel Esteban was unable to avoid him and rolled over in the gravel along with his KTM. However, no red flag was waved. Whilst the riders were being attended to off the track, the race continued.

On lap 10, the leading group began to split into two. Uriarte and Quiles pulled away, followed a good second later by World Championship contender Carpe alongside the two rookies Salmela (Tech3) and Morelli (Aspar). Honda rider Joel Kelso put in a remarkable performance. Having been well off the pace after the first lap, the Aussie had already fought his way up to 15th place by the halfway point, putting him in the points.

As the second half of the race got underway, Alvaro Carpe dropped out of the battle for a podium place. After a slip in Turn 8, the Spaniard skidded through the gravel and fell back to 11th place. However, Salmela and Morelli were far from comfortable in their battle for third place, as Matteo Bertelle had closed the gap by lap 14. The trio were already four seconds ahead of the chasing pack of Fernandez, Rios, Pratama and Danish. Meanwhile, behind Kelso and Pini, Leo Rammerstorfer was trying to fight his way up to 15th place.

With five laps to go, there seemed to be no doubt that victory at the Sachsenring would go either to World Championship leader Quiles or to rookie Brian Uriarte. The KTM duo had pulled 2.6 seconds clear of Morelli, Bertelle and Salmela.

With four laps to go, the moment arrived: World Championship leader Quiles overtook last year’s Rookies’ Cup winner. But Uriarte kept pace, studying the 18-year-old World Championship leader from Jorge Martinez’s team. On the final lap, Uriarte struck back in the Omega section after Quiles slipped. Uriarte defended brilliantly over the last two kilometres and won ahead of the World Championship leader. The Ajo rookie’s lead: 0.063 seconds!

The battle for third place was also a close one. Italian Matteo Bertelle found the best line through the final section. The MTA rider was seven thousandths of a second faster than Marco Morelli. Tech3 rookie Rico Salmela took fifth place. Leo Rammerstorfer battled for 15th place right up to the chequered flag – the Austrian lost out to Guido Pini by 0.086 seconds.

Whilst the successful riders celebrated, the all-clear came from the Medical Centre. As things stand, Adrian Cruces and, in particular, Joel Esteban have escaped without serious injury.

Whilst Maximo Quiles continues to lead the World Championship standings unchallenged, rookie Urirate overtook his team-mate Carpe to move into second place with his second victory. David Almansa (Intact GP) dropped from third to fifth place.