Peter Öttl on Almansa: “Runner-up title is a realistic goal”

David Almansa once again put in a strong performance in the Moto3 race at Assen. The Intact rider started the race from sixth on the grid. He got off to a good start and entered the first corner in fourth place; after just a few corners, he took the lead. At the end of lap 1, rookie Brian Uriarte (KTM Ajo) and championship leader Maximo Quiles (Aspar) overtook Almansa once again.

As the race progressed, Almansa and Quiles pulled away from the rest of the field. By the final lap, the two frontrunners’ lead had grown to just under two seconds. In the final stretch, Quiles left Almansa with no chance – he crossed the finish line half a second ahead.

“I tried to take the lead straight away in the race. The plan worked out. After that, I didn’t push too hard, even though I was trying to pull away. But halfway through the race, Maximo Quiles overtook me, and I knew he was on the medium tyres, which allowed him to really turn up the pressure from then on,” said the 20-year-old, reflecting on his race. “I stayed behind him and took it a bit easier, because on this track it’s easy to follow the rider in front.”

On the final lap, Quiles pulled away from the Intact rider. “I prepared very well for the final lap, but made a small mistake in a left-hand bend, which prevented me from battling with him right up to the finish line,” Almansa had to admit. “But I’m very happy, because the feel of the bike was perfect and I feel very much at home in the team. We’ll carry on like this, especially at the team’s home Grand Prix in Germany.”

Intact team manager Peter Öttl praises Almansa’s performance

Intact team manager Peter Öttl was satisfied with his rider’s performance. “David was consistently fast this weekend at Assen. In practice, he always set his lap times under his own steam, without the help of a slipstream. Starting sixth after three consecutive pole positions wasn’t a disappointment; it was still a good starting position for the race,” emphasised the Bavarian. “Right from the first lap, he stormed forward from his second-row starting position and took the lead. Thanks to his strong pace, he was able to pull away at the front alongside Maximo Quiles as the race progressed. This was already the fifth time this season, which very clearly underlines that the two of them are currently the strongest riders in the Moto3 World Championship. In the end, David only narrowly missed out on victory.”

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Almansa secured his third podium of the season at Assen. In the overall standings, the Spaniard moved up to third place. He is 102 points behind championship leader Quiles. “The differences between him and Quiles were minimal, but David has moved up to third place in the overall standings and has reduced the gap to the runner-up to twelve points,” said Öttl. “I think the runners-up title is a realistic target for him, one that we can achieve by the end of the season.”