Almansa and Muñoz to start Australian Grand Prix from row four and six

For LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP’s Moto3 team, qualifying at Phillip Island went differently than at recent race weekends. David Almansa crashed during the decisive stage and consequently dropped down to eleventh place. His teammate David Muñoz qualified for 16th on the grid at the ultra-fast track.

David Almansa and David Muñoz got off to a solid start on Friday at round 18 amid bright sunshine and warm temperatures. After finishing 10th (Muñoz) and 12th (Almansa) in Free Practice 1, the two Spanish riders finished in reverse order, fourth and eighth, the afternoon’s Practice session. This secured them direct advancement to Q2.

The expected change in weather began overnight on Saturday and brought rain to the small island, which is a two-hour’s drive south from Melbourne. At the rain-soaked track, Almansa showed his potential and finished third in FP2, while Muñoz ended the session in 25th place after a crash.

At the time of qualifying got underway shortly after noon, the track at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit had completely dried out. Twenty-year-old David Almansa went out on his own to set a fast lap time. Ultimately, his quest for a fast lap time came to an abrupt end when he crashed in Turn 4 shortly before the end of the session. Almansa, who had been in the second row of the grid up to that point, slipped to eleventh place in the standings and will start Sunday’s race from the fourth row.

For David Muñoz, on the other hand, qualifying proved unexpectedly difficult. Unlike his teammate, he opted for a pit stop to change tyres. The 20-year-old from Seville also tried to set fast lap times while riding in a group. Nevertheless, after his fourth qualifying session following a long injury break in the highly competitive Moto3 class, he had to settle for 16th place on the starting grid for the 18th race of the season.

The Moto3 race in Australia is scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. local time, which is shortly after midnight on Sunday morning in Europe, at 2:00 a.m. CEST.

Moto3™ Qualifying Results:
1 Veda PATRAMA / INA / Honda Team Asia / Honda / 1´35.299
2 Maximo QUILES / SPA / CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team / KTM / 1´35.230 +0.021
3 Joel KELSO / AUS / GRYD Racing / Honda / 1´35.366 +0.067
…
11 #22 David ALMANSA / SPA / LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP / KTM / 1´35.914 +0.615
16 #64 David MUÑOZ / SPA / LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP / KTM / 1´36.308 +1.009