Moto3 sensation in Brno: Rookie Hakim Danish (KTM) defeated the Spaniards

The starting grid for the ninth Moto3 race of the 2026 season differed significantly from the results of the previous day’s qualifying session. The reason: no fewer than nine young riders had succumbed to the temptation to take it easy during qualifying, hoping to benefit from a slipstream to achieve a better lap time. Repeat offenders Pratama, Danish, Pini and Salmela each lost 12 grid positions as a result of their slow laps. It was a bitter blow – Danish, who had finished second in Q2, now had to start from P14, Pini was demoted to P24, and for rookie Rico Salmela (Tech3), the offence meant he would start from the back of the grid.

Pole-setter David Almansa had also been lazing about, but as a first-time offender he received only a warning and retained his pole position. This meant that Maximo Quiles and Alvaro Carpe – the championship leader and his closest challenger – lined up alongside Intact rider Almansa. Row 2: rookie and Mugello winner Brian Uriarte (KTM Ajo), Eddie O’Shea (Mlav) and Scott Ogden (CIP).

In 21st place on the grid, Leo Rammerstorfer – the only German-speaking GP rider – was preparing for the scorching battle in Brno; when the single-cylinder bikes set off on their warm-up lap, the temperature was shown as 29 degrees – not a cloud in the sky above the legendary Autodrom. Absent from the start in Brno was the injured Intact lead rider David Muñoz. The Spaniard was replaced by Marco Uriarte in 13th place on the grid.

At 11 am, the first of 16 laps got underway on the 5.4 km-long circuit not far from Brno. Almansa and Quiles were locked in a tight battle for the first corner. Quiles came out on top and turned into the corner ahead of Carpe, Almansa and Uriarte. Adrian Fernandez got off to a very good start, moving up from row 4 to 5th place, whilst Hakim Danish, who had been penalised, stormed up from 14th to 8th.

Positions amongst the top four changed hands several times during the very first lap. In lap 3, it was Quiles again who tried to set the pace. Behind him were Almansa, Brian Uriarte, Carpe and the astonishing Danish. Lap 3 also saw the end of the race for Joel Esteban, who had crashed out at turn 4.

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Also noteworthy was the comeback by another rider from South-East Asia. The Indonesian Veda Pretama, who had also been penalised in Q2 and started from 12th, went into the fourth lap in seventh place. The Honda Asia rookie finished Round 4 in fifth place, having set the fastest lap of the race, ahead of Danish. In 22nd place, having made contact with the riders ahead, was Leo Rammerstorfer.

After a third of the race, seven riders had formed a leading group. Behind Quiles and Almansa, who took turns setting the pace, were Urirarte, Pratama, Carpe, Danish and Casey O’Gorman. However, the Irishman was unable to keep up with the pace. Leo Rammerstorfer’s team-mate went down at Turn 9. That left four Spaniards, all on KTMs, and two Asian riders, including Honda’s lone rider Pratama.

At the start of lap 7, disaster struck for SIC58, as Leo Rammerstorfer had now also crashed – zero points for Paolo Simoncelli’s team. Meanwhile, at the front, Brian Urirate had taken the lead for the first time. At the start of lap 9, he slipped back to 4th behind his compatriots. Now it was David Almansa who led on the black Intact KTM from Peter Öttl’s team.

Things got tight on lap 10: Alvaro Carpe attacked the leader and sent Almansa wide. As a result, the Intact hopeful lost four positions. But Carpe also made a mistake, and so Quiles took the lead ahead of Danish on lap 11. With two-thirds of the race complete, the top six already had a five-second lead over a large chasing group, led by Marco Morelli.

The final developed into a classic Moto3 battle of the highest order. Whilst Quiles, Carpe, Uriarte, Almansa and Danish swapped positions from sector to sector, Veda Pratama kept a close eye on the top five.

There is little to report on the World Championship standings. Maximo Quiles remains the undisputed leader. The Aspar rider holds a lead over Alvaro Carpe. Intact ace David Almansa is fourth. The World Championship leader went into the final two laps in the lead. Wheel-to-wheel behind Quiles were Uriarte, Danish, Pratama, Almansa and Carpe. On the final lap, Uriarte took the lead, Danish moved up to second, but Quiles struck back immediately. It turned into a relentless finale in which an outstanding Hakim Danish prevailed. The Malaysian secured his first GP victory – 0.4 seconds ahead of Brian Uriarte, Maximo Quiles, Almansa, Pratama and Carpe. The top six crossed the finish line within 0.9 seconds of one another.

The chasing pack, including Marco Morelli, Joel Kelso and Scott Ogden, followed just ten seconds later. Yamanaka claimed the final World Championship point.