2026 Thai Moto3 - Qualifying Results

The first qualifying sessions of the Moto3 2026 season saw David Almansa set the fastest run for pole position ahead of round 1 of 22 - the  Thai Grand Prix in Buriram.

The Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP rider, who had finished Friday fastest and topped the morning FP2 session, made his switch from Honda to KTM machinery successfully with a run that looked effortless, slotting into perfect track position to chase the bikes ahead for gains, lighting up the Buriram track to set a new lap record of 1:40.088s.

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Alvaro Carpe had been leading the way and was the only rider within half a second of the new benchmark lap, finishing a sizeable 0.430s behind for Red Bull KTM Ajo.

The front row for Sunday’s race will be completed by Adrian Fernandez, who won the last Grand Prix of 2025 from pole for his Leopard team, passing Kelso on track on his way to the line.

Maximo Quiles was running his usual wider line on his way to fourth for Aspar, ahead of Vada Pratama who impressed once again as the top rookie in Q2 in his world championship qualifying debut, picking up a place late on for Honda Team Asia.

Pratama was one of only a handful of late improvers after a huge group on track all slowed at the same corner at the same time searching for a rider to follow.seventh for the MT Helmets team - Joel Esteban had been ahead but had his late effort cancelled dropping the Spaniard back to last.

David Munoz spent the first part of Q2 in his garage resting his body as he returns from injury and his tyres as the best of the riders to move up from Q1 - his late dash took the second Dynavolt bike to sixth, but over a second away from the new record lap.

Ryusei Yamanaka had done enough for seventh for the MT Helmets team, ahead of Scott Ogden - another rider who made the most of the final minutes to climb from 13th to eighth for CIP Green Power.

Guido Pini secured ninth for Leopard, with rookie Casey O’Gorman completing the top ten after going straight to Q2 on his Practice performance for SIC58 Squadra Corse.

Official Buriram Moto3 Records:
Fastest race lap: David Munoz (2025) 1m 41.042s
Old all time lap record: Jose Antonio Rueda (2025) 1m 40.350s
New all time lap record: David Almansa (2026, Q2) 1m 40.088s

Q1 sees rookie Danish on top

A late dash in a crowded section of track as the Moto3 riders searched for a tow saw Hakim Danish head through to Q2 with the top time.

The Malaysian took over from Joel Kelso at the top of the standings, with a determined late lap also seeing David Munoz force his way into the second session.

Neither could produce the same performance in Q2 - finishing the day in 15th and 16th respectively.

Kelso was in the lower half of the times following his switch to Honda after six years as a KTM rider and used his time on track to run with his new team-mate Eddie O’Shea for much of the session on his way to third. The Brit was shuffled out of the progression places in the dying moments of the session, finishing sixth for MLav Racing.

That last spot in Q2 went to another rookie, Rico Salmela (13th in Q2), beating a frantic late effort from Cormac Buchanan, who was left in fifth, for 19th on the grid after passing his team-mate trying to progress.

Last seasons pole position rider for the opening round, Matteo Bertelle, was down in 20th after the opening day so made an early appearance in Q1 for a very different start to 2026, finishing behind O’Shea in seventh to line up 21st on race day.

Full qualifying results can be found below.