Moto3 Qatar 2026: Almansa wins at Lusail, podium for Fernández and Quiles

David Almansa wins the Moto3 Qatar GP at Lusail, in the race scheduled over 16 laps. The Spaniard takes the lead already in the opening metres and from there never gives it up, finishing with a 2,516 second margin. Behind him come Adrián Fernández and Máximo Quiles, to complete an all-Spanish podium.

Quiles starts from pole, but in the first corners loses positions and has to recover. In the closing stages he gets back within striking distance of the leaders, then a mistake costs him the chance to stay ahead of Fernández: the rider thus moves up into second position, while Quiles completes the podium 0,069 seconds behind the rider he battled with. Almansa, meanwhile, keeps building his advantage lap after lap and finishes an increasingly solid performance.

Right behind the top three, the battle for fourth place opens up, with Álvaro Carpe, Joel Kelso and Veda Pratama involved in a series of overtakes. In the end it is Pratama who takes the position, ahead of Carpe and Kelso. Guido Pini finishes 11th.

The other incidents

David Muñoz's race is marked by two incidents. In the opening laps he makes contact with Brian Uriarte and receives a long lap penalty; later he is also involved in the incident that leads to Eddie O'Shea's crash and a penalty of two additional long laps is handed down. Uriarte, back on track after the crash, climbs back to 14th place and still brings home the Moto3 Rookie of the Year title.

The Qatar round also delivers another verdict: the Aspar team mathematically secures the Moto3 world team title. There are now only two races left in the 2026 season, as AS notes in its report on the Losail race.