Maximo Quiles won the FIM Moto3 World Championship race Sunday at Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, in Italy. Using his Pirelli-shod CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team KTM, the Spaniard won the 17-lap race by just 0.06 second.
Alvaro Carpe, riding his Red Bull KTM Ajo, was the runner-up.
Dennis Foggia, Quiles’ teammate, was third, just 0.066 second behind Quiles.
Championship point leader and Carpe’s teammate, Jose Antonio Rueda, crossed the finish line fourth.
David Muñoz got fifth on his LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP KTM.
Rueda leads the championship with 162 points, 56 ahead of Piqueras who has 106 points. Carpe is third with 105 points.
More from a press release issued by Dorna:
Quiles takes career-first win in hair-raising Mugello Moto3™ scrap. 17 laps of intense battling resulted in a stunning victory for one of the hottest rookies in the class but he wasn’t the only one in the mix going into the final dash for the line.
It seemed poetic; Marc Marques took his first Grand Prix pole at Le Mans, first podium at Silverstone and win at Mugello and 15 years later, history repeats itself. Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team) battled from the third row to lead home a rookie 1-2 ahead of Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Dennis Foggia (CFMOTO Valresa Aspar Team) in a classic Moto3 scrap at Mugello.
Grabbing the holeshot, polesitter Carpe maintained his place and the front three on the grid were the top three in the early stages, with Championship leader Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power) trading paint on the opening lap behind. Three riders fell on the second lap on the exit of Turn 5, with Vicente Perez (GRYD MLav Racing Team), Ricardo Rossi (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Ruche Moodley (DENSSI – Racing Boe) all out. Another contender fell from the top six on the start of Lap 3; David Almansa (Leopard Racing) out after contact with rival Ogden.
By Lap 6, Quiles led the way and battled with Rueda, whilst Guido Pini (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) had put in a miraculous opening third of the race, climbing from 20thon the grid to P4 and the podium fight by Lap 6, scrapping with fellow home-hero Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse). There was a close moment on Lap 7 for David Muñoz (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) and Valentin Perrone (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) at Turn 10, Perrone in the lead battle from the back of the grid. Adrian Fernandez (Leopard Racing) was also in the mix on his comeback ride, up leading briefly by the end of Lap 7. Fernandez’s charge was short-lived though as he and Lunetta crashed at Turn 1 under braking. The home charge came to an end a few corners later for the #94 of Pini, crashing on the exit of Turn 12 after contact with Joel Kelso (LEVELUP-MTA).
Foggia led at Turn 1 onto the last lap but he and Carpe swapped places at Arrabbiata 1 and 2, allowing Quiles to come back into the battle and he was P2 by Turn 12. Into the last corner, he hit the front and despite Carpe’s best efforts in a slipstream battle, the #28 wasn’t going to be denied on the line for the third straight race. He took his career-first win – at the same place as Marc Marquez in 2010 – ahead of Carpe and home-hero Foggia, back on the podium for the first time since Buriram in 2022. Rueda extends his Championship lead with P4 – coming from as low as 15th at one point – whilst Muñoz was fifth.
Furusato clinched sixth place after being shuffled back in the closing stages of the final lap, ahead of Angel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) and Perrone Tech 3). Ninth went Kelso and he was less than a second off the win, whilst Ryusei Yamanaka (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) rounded out the top ten, edging out Nicola Carraro (Rivacold Snipers Team).
