Within the first qualifying session of the Moto3 2026 season, David Almanza set the quickest time to take pole place forward of Spherical 22, Spherical 1 Buriram Thailand Grand Prix.
Ending quickest on Friday and main the morning’s FP2 session, the Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider effortlessly made the change from Honda to KTM machine, slotting into excellent monitor place and gaining in pursuit of the bike in entrance of him, setting a brand new document of 1 minute 40.088 seconds.
Main Alvaro Calpe was the one rider to come back inside 0.4 seconds of the brand new benchmark lap, ending a good 0.430 seconds forward of Purple Bull KTM Ajo.
The entrance row for Sunday’s race will probably be accomplished by Adrian Fernandes, who received from pole place for the Leopard crew within the final Grand Prix of 2025, passing Kelso on the monitor on his technique to the road.
Aspar’s Maximo Cres, as ordinary, ran a large line and rose to fourth place, taking the place for Honda Group Asia late in entrance of Vada Pratama, who as soon as once more made a very good impression as the highest Q2 rookie in his World Championship qualifying debut.
Pratama was one of many few to develop late, after a big group on the monitor slowed down in the identical nook whereas in search of riders to comply with on the identical time. Joel Esteban was forward in seventh place for the MT Helmet crew, however his late efforts have been undone and the Spaniard dropped to final place.
David Munoz spent the primary half of Q2 within the storage resting his physique as he recovered from his damage, resting his tires as the most effective rider in preparation for advancing to Q1. His late sprint moved the second Dynavolt bike as much as sixth place, nevertheless it was greater than a second in need of a brand new document lap.
Ryusei Yamanaka of the MT Helmet crew did nicely sufficient for seventh place, forward of Scott Ogden. The opposite rider made essentially the most of his ultimate moments to maneuver from thirteenth to eighth on CIP Inexperienced Energy.
Guido Pini secured ninth place for Leopard, whereas rookie Casey O’Gorman’s observe efficiency in his SIC58 Squadra Corse took him straight to Q2 and into the highest ten.
Buriram Moto3 official data:
Quickest lap of the race: David Munoz (2025) 1 minute 41.042 seconds
Earlier lap time document: Jose Antonio Rueda (2025) 1 minute 40.350 seconds
New lap document: David Almanza (2026, Q2) 1 minute 40.088 seconds
New Dane leads Q1
Hakim Denmark made a late sprint on a congested part of the monitor because the Moto3 riders looked for a tow automobile and superior to Q2 with the quickest time.
The Malaysian took over the place from Joel Kelso and took over the lead, with David Munoz additionally forcing his manner into the second session with some courageous laps within the closing phases.
Neither automotive had the identical efficiency in Q2, ending the day in fifteenth and sixteenth place respectively.
Kelso had been within the backside half of the instances since shifting to Honda after six years as a KTM rider, however he used his time on monitor to journey with new teammate Eddie O’Shea, spending a lot of the periods working his manner as much as third. The Briton was dropped from his place in the direction of the tip of the session and completed sixth for MLav Racing.
The ultimate spot in Q2 was taken by fellow rookie Rico Salmela (213th Q2), who beat a determined late effort from Cormac Buchanan in fifth place and handed his teammate as he tried to maneuver ahead to assert nineteenth on the grid.
Rider Matteo Bertel, who took pole place finally season’s opening race, was twentieth after the primary day, so he entered Q1 early to get a really completely different begin to 2026, ending seventh behind O’Shea and tied for twenty first on race day.
Full qualifying outcomes might be discovered under.
2026 Thailand Moto3 – Qualifying Outcomes | ||||
| place | rider | nut | crew | time |
| 1 | David Almanza | spa | Liquid Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | 1:40.088 seconds |
| 2 | Alvaro Calpe | spa | Purple Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) | +0.430 seconds |
| 3 | Adrian Fernandez | spa | Leopard Racing (Honda) | +0.605 seconds |
| 4 | Maximo Cress | spa | CFMOTO Aspar Group (KTM) | +0.609 seconds |
| 5 | Vedic Pratama | when | Honda Group Asia (Honda) | +0.789 seconds |
| 6 | David Muñoz | spa | Liquid Moly Dynavolt Intact GP (KTM) | +1.003 seconds |
| 7 | Ryusei Yamanaka | Japan | Aeon Credit score – MT Helmet – MSI (KTM) | +1.110 seconds |
| 8 | Scott Ogden | GBR | CIP Inexperienced Energy (KTM) | +1.203 seconds |
| 9 | Guido Pini | ITA | Leopard Racing (Honda) | +1.231 seconds |
| 10 | Casey O’Gorman | IRL | SIC58 Racing Group (Honda) | +1.249 seconds |
| 11 | Marco Morelli | A.R.G. | CFMOTO Aspar Group (KTM) | +1.275 seconds |
| 12 | Brian Uriarte | spa | Purple Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) | +1.338 seconds |
| 13 | Rico Salmela | fin | Purple Bull KTM Tech 3 (KTM) | +1,606 seconds |
| 14 | Valentin Perrone | A.R.G. | Purple Bull KTM Tech 3 (KTM) | +1.664 seconds |
| 15 | Danish decide | Maru | Aeon Credit score – MT Helmet – MSI (KTM) | +1.673 seconds |
| 16 | Joel Kelso | out of | GRYD – MLav Racing (Honda) | +1.700 seconds |
| 17 | Jesus Rios | spa | Rivercold Snipers Group (Honda) | +1.706 seconds |
| 18 | Joel Esteban | spa | Stage Up – MTA (KTM) | +1.815 seconds |
Q1 | ||||
| 19 | cormac buchanan | new zealand | Code Motorsport (KTM) | 1:41.839 seconds |
| 20 | eddie o’shea | GBR | GRYD – MLav Racing (Honda) | 1:41,846 seconds |
| twenty one | Mateo Bertel | ITA | Stage Up – MTA (KTM) | 1:41.902 seconds |
| twenty two | Adrian Cruces | spa | CIP Inexperienced Energy (KTM) | 1:42.026p |
| twenty three | Leo Lammerstorfer | Take a look at goal | SIC58 Racing Group (Honda) | 1:42.230 seconds |
| twenty 4 | Nicola Carraro | ITA | Rivercold Snipers Group (Honda) | 1:42.327 seconds |
| twenty 5 | louche moodley | RSA | Code Motorsport (KTM) | 1:42.429 seconds |
| 26 | Zen Mitani | Japan | Honda Group Asia (Honda) | 1:42.648 seconds |
