On the opening day of the Moto3 season, David Almanza began 2026 in the very best manner, rising to the highest of the timesheets throughout prime observe held in Buriram forward of the Thai Grand Prix.
The Spaniard, who was a Honda rider for Leopard final season, tailored rapidly to his new Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP KTM and regardless of a short lunch break adopted by some rain, he nonetheless discovered the crimson sector and overcame it, setting a last greatest time of 1:40.990.
Alvaro Calpe stepped up within the closing levels and powered his Crimson Bull KTM bike as much as second place, ending simply 0.078 seconds behind.
Friday’s prime three was occupied by Valentin Perrone, who rose to the highest ten after a gradual begin in FP1 and set one of the best lap at an important second for the Crimson Bull KTM Tech3.
Máximo Cres, who took the lead within the last check at Jerez, was essentially the most common early session chief. Attempting to regain the lead within the second half of the lap, the Aspar rider was far behind in fourth place, along with his new teammate Marco Morelli near his private greatest in fifth place.
Within the battle for prime rookies, Scott Ogden was one of the best British rider in sixth place for CIP Inexperienced Energy.
Sturdy opening day for 2026 rookie riders
The winner of that battle was Jesus Rios, who was additionally the highest-ranked rookie within the last check for the Rivacold Snipers.
Honda Crew Asia’s Veda Pratama narrowly completed eighth, changing into the primary rider to beat Almanza’s time by simply over half a second.
Leopard’s Adrian Fernandez dropped from first place in FP1 to ninth place, whereas one other rookie, Brian Uriarte, arrived at Crimson Bull KTM Ajo because the reigning Junior GP and Rookies Cup champion, finishing the highest ten.
Remaining within the prime 14 in a single day to advance to Q2 have been Ryusei Yamanaka on MT Helmet – MSI’s late run to take eleventh place, Guido Pini on second Leopard bike in twelfth place, Casey O’Gorman on SIC58 Squadra Corse in thirteenth place and LEVEL UP – MTA’s Joel Esteban in 14th place.
| 2026 Thailand Moto3 – Follow outcomes | ||||
| place | rider | nut | group | time |
| 1 | David Almanza | spa | Liquid Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | 1:40.990 seconds |
| 2 | Alvaro Calpe | spa | Crimson Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) | +0.078 seconds |
| 3 | Valentin Perrone | A.R.G. | Crimson Bull KTM Tech 3 (KTM) | +0.204 seconds |
| 4 | Maximo Cress | spa | CFMOTO Aspar Crew (KTM) | +0.236 seconds |
| 5 | Marco Morelli | A.R.G. | CFMOTO Aspar Crew (KTM) | +0.380 seconds |
| 6 | Scott Ogden | GBR | CIP Inexperienced Energy (KTM) | +0.474 seconds |
| 7 | Jesus Rios | spa | Rivercold Snipers Crew (Honda) | +0.498 seconds |
| 8 | Vedic Pratama | when | Honda Crew Asia (Honda) | +0.518 seconds |
| 9 | Adrian Fernandes | spa | Leopard Racing (Honda) | +0.541 seconds |
| 10 | Brian Uriarte | spa | Crimson Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) | +0.541 seconds |
| 11 | Ryusei Yamanaka | Japan | Aeon Credit score – MT Helmet – MSI (KTM) | +0.563 seconds |
| 12 | Guido Pini | ITA | Leopard Racing (Honda) | +0.576 seconds |
| 13 | Casey O’Gorman | IRL | SIC58 Racing Crew (Honda) | +0.667 seconds |
| 14 | Joel Esteban | spa | Stage Up – MTA (KTM) | +0.669 seconds |
| 15 | Rico Salmela | fin | Crimson Bull KTM Tech 3 (KTM) | +0.732 seconds |
| 16 | David Muñoz | spa | Liquid Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | +0.777 seconds |
| 17 | eddie o’shea | GBR | GRYD – MLav Racing (Honda) | +0.822 seconds |
| 18 | cormac buchanan | new zealand | Code Motorsport (KTM) | +0.852 seconds |
| 19 | Joel Kelso | out of | GRYD – MLav Racing (Honda) | +0.932 seconds |
| 20 | Mateo Bertel | ITA | Stage Up – MTA (KTM) | +0.976 seconds |
| twenty one | Adrian Cruces | spa | CIP Inexperienced Energy (KTM) | +1.072 seconds |
| twenty two | Danish choose | Maru | Aeon Credit score – MT Helmet – MSI (KTM) | +1.094 seconds |
| twenty three | Leo Lammerstorfer | Take a look at goal | SIC58 Racing Crew (Honda) | +1.345 seconds |
| twenty 4 | louche moodley | RSA | Code Motorsport (KTM) | +1.685 seconds |
| twenty 5 | Nicola Carraro | ITA | Rivercold Snipers Crew (Honda) | +1.742 seconds |
| 26 | Zen Mitani | Japan | Honda Crew Asia (Honda) | +1.824 seconds |
Rookie Rico Salmela was the primary rider in his class to crash and virtually recovered from his crash in sector three early on, however his Crimson Bull KTM Tech 3 fell simply brief in fifteenth place.
David Muñoz held onto final place till the top, however fell again to sixteenth place.
Testing elsewhere additionally noticed the group return to Thailand’s Chang Worldwide Circuit for the primary time since final season’s opener, when Matteo Bertel took pole place earlier than Jose Antonio Rueda took victory.
After a vivid begin, Bartel ended the season hit by accidents, however began the 2026 LEVEL UP – MTA with a extra subdued twentieth place end.
Hakim Denmark was twenty second, however he could not be faulted for not pushing to the restrict and made an enormous save to remain on his MT helmet bike because the clock ticked down.
Buriram Moto3 official information:
Quickest lap of the race: David Munoz (2025) 1 minute 41.042 seconds
All-time lap document: Jose Antonio Rueda (2025) 1 minute 40.350 seconds
Free observe 1
Within the opening free observe session, Fernandes picked up the place he left off and topped the session, closing the hole from his first win from pole and shutting out 2025.
Kelso and Almanza occupied the early prime three and have been the one riders inside half a second of the lead time, however the Australian dropped to nineteenth within the second session, leaving Carpe and Pini within the prime 5 to begin their second full season.
Platama was the highest rookie in FP1 in sixth place, whereas Ogden was as soon as once more one of the best British rider in ninth place.
Yamanaka, in thirteenth place, was the final rider to come back inside a second of Fernandes on the primary course of Moto3.
You may try the FP1 occasions beneath…
| 2026 Thailand Moto3 – Free Follow (1) Outcomes | ||||
| place | rider | nut | group | time |
| 1 | Adrian Fernandez | spa | Leopard Racing (Honda) | 1:41.202 seconds |
| 2 | Joel Kelso | out of | GRYD – MLav Racing (Honda) | +0.317 seconds |
| 3 | David Almanza | spa | Liquid Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | +0.384 seconds |
| 4 | Alvaro Calpe | spa | Crimson Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) | +0.531 seconds |
| 5 | Guido Pini | ITA | Leopard Racing (Honda) | +0.630 seconds |
| 6 | Vedic Pratama | when | Honda Crew Asia (Honda) | +0.652 seconds |
| 7 | Joel Esteban | spa | Stage Up – MTA (KTM) | +0.666 seconds |
| 8 | David Muñoz | spa | Liquid Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | +0.681 seconds |
| 9 | Scott Ogden | GBR | CIP Inexperienced Energy (KTM) | +0.703 seconds |
| 10 | Maximo Cress | spa | CFMOTO Aspar Crew (KTM) | +0.736 seconds |
| 11 | Valentin Perrone | A.R.G. | Crimson Bull KTM Tech 3 (KTM) | +0.880 seconds |
| 12 | Casey O’Gorman | IRL | SIC58 Racing Crew (Honda) | +0.884 seconds |
| 13 | Ryusei Yamanaka | Japan | Aeon Credit score – MT Helmet – MSI (KTM) | +0.996 seconds |
| 14 | Rico Salmela | fin | Crimson Bull KTM Tech 3 (KTM) | +1.119 seconds |
| 15 | Marco Morelli | A.R.G. | CFMOTO Aspar Crew (KTM) | +1.217 seconds |
| 16 | Adrian Cruces | spa | CIP Inexperienced Energy (KTM) | +1.300 seconds |
| 17 | Danish choose | Maru | Aeon Credit score – MT Helmet – MSI (KTM) | +1.382 seconds |
| 18 | Brian Uriarte | spa | Crimson Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) | +1.399 seconds |
| 19 | Jesus Rios | spa | Rivercold Snipers Crew (Honda) | +1.456 seconds |
| 20 | cormac buchanan | new zealand | Code Motorsport (KTM) | +1.547 seconds |
| twenty one | Mateo Bertel | ITA | Stage Up – MTA (KTM) | 1.659 seconds |
| twenty two | louche moodley | RSA | Code Motorsport (KTM) | +1.777 seconds |
| twenty three | eddie o’shea | GBR | GRYD – MLav Racing (Honda) | +1.798 seconds |
| twenty 4 | Zen Mitani | Japan | Honda Crew Asia (Honda) | +2.183 seconds |
| twenty 5 | Nicola Carraro | ITA | Rivercold Snipers Crew (Honda) | +2.247 seconds |
| 26 | Leo Lammerstorfer | Take a look at goal | SIC58 Racing Crew (Honda) | +2.532 seconds |
