Top-class Moto3: Quiles won the Spanish duel against Almansa at Assen

The message from the dominant force of the 2026 Moto3 World Championship season could not have been clearer: Maximo Quiles, who already has five GP victories to his name this year, secured pole position for his KTM racer in CFMOTO livery. Joel Kelso also made a very good impression. The Australian was among the frontrunners in every session; in Q2, he secured P2 between Quiles and the top rookie, Ajo rider Brian Uriarte.

A glance at the second row demonstrated just how strong the rookies are this season. There, Marco Morelli (4th) and Adrian Cruces (5th) lined up alongside Intact winner David Almansa, who, alongside Alvaro Carpe, is considered Maximo Quiles’ toughest rival in the World Championship battle.

Hakim Danish was only on 16th on the grid. The Brno winner, who had most recently won after starting from P14, was therefore once again facing a tough challenge. Even further back, in 23rd position, Leo Rammerstorfer was preparing for the tenth Grand Prix of the year. Twenty laps on the 4.54 km-long historic circuit lay ahead.

There was no fear of chaotic weather conditions. Although it had rained during the night, by the time the first GP started on Sunday morning, the Assen circuit was in perfect condition with temperatures of 26 degrees and a clear blue sky. Nevertheless, as the long-lap loop had not yet dried out completely, a last-minute rule change was introduced. For the Moto3 race only, every long-lap penalty was automatically converted into a 3-second time penalty.

Notably, when the field of 26 young riders set off on the warm-up lap, Maximo Quiles had opted exclusively for the medium rear tyre – whereas 25 riders opted for the soft Pirelli compound.

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The race got underway at 11 am. Quiles took the lead off the line, but David Almansa set about the race extremely aggressively from the start. Riding the black Intact-KTM, the Spaniard stormed through the opening corners and was already in the lead by Turn 6. But Maximo Quiles wouldn’t let him pull away. The Aspar rider struck back decisively whilst still on the first lap.

World Championship runner-up Alvaro Carpe was unlucky. On lap 2, the KTM rider collided with Adrian Cruces, who had crashed, in the slow Turn 5. Carpe was able to continue, but was over 20 seconds behind the leader. Zen Mitani (Honda Asia) and Cormach Buchanan also crashed early on.

Hakim Danish put in another sensational performance. By the end of the third lap, the MSi hopeful was already up to fifth place. Veda Pratama fared even better. The rookie boldly overtook Fernandez and Quiles, leaving only Almansa ahead of him – the rider who had set the fastest pace of the field in the opening stages.

Leo Rammerstorfer was the beneficiary of the hectic opening stages. After five laps, the Linz-based rider was in 20th place, five seconds behind the leader. After a third of the race, the leading group began to spread out, but Almansa, Quiles, Danish, Perrone and Fernandez stayed together.

Frustration set in at the Honda Asia pit – following Veda Pratama’s crash at Turn 4, both riders were out of the race. Meanwhile, Quiles upped the pace with the fastest lap of the race, but David Almansa was still able to keep up. Behind them were Danish and Jesus Rios from Team Snipers, who had made a strong charge up the field. Fernandez and Salmela battled to catch up with the leading group of four.

In the second half of the race, Quiles showed his true class. Whilst the chasing group grew, the number 28 rider had pulled away by half a second. However, his solo breakaway came to nothing once again, as David Almansa closed the gap in just one lap. The fastest lap, clocked at 1:40.8 minutes, went to Petter Öttl’s Intact team.

At first, it looked like it would be a Spanish affair between Quiles and Almansa, but Hakim Danish also had the pace to get involved in the battle for victory. Behind the trio, a gap of just under a second had opened up to Fernandez, Perrone and Rios. Leo Rammerstorfer was in 19th place with five laps to go.

In the final stages, Hakim Danish was forced to drop back – leading to a tough but fair all-Spanish duel for victory in the Netherlands. With two laps to go, Quiles and Almansa had pulled 1.5 seconds clear.

Danish, who had long been in third place, was overtaken. Salmela, Morelli and Perrone flew past the Asian rider.

David Almansa musste sich Quiles geschlagen geben

Foto: Gold & Goose

As is so often the case at the Dutch TT, the final lap produced a thrilling finale. Quiles started the final lap in P1, just centimetres ahead of Almansa. Quiles went all out and launched a full-on attack. With a perfect final lap, he left Almansa with no room to attack. Maximo Quiles won 0.5 seconds ahead of Almansa; it was the Aspar rider’s sixth victory.

The Moto3 day at Assen was rounded off perfectly for Jorge Martinez’s team with a third-place finish from rookie Morelli. The Argentine had held off Salmela, Perrone and Kelso on the final lap. Salmela, who had received a long-lap penalty, was demoted to P11. 18th place went to Leo Rammerstorfer.

The situation in the World Championship standings is clear. Maximo Quiles remains the undisputed leader. The Aspar rider has a 90-point lead over Alvaro Carpe. KTM continues to lead the manufacturers’ standings unchallenged. Honda trails by 114 points.