The pole-sitter has to fight his way back from tenth place after a difficult start. Carpe crashes out while battling for second place at Mandalika.

Brian Uriarte took third place at the Moto3 Indonesian Grand Prix, fighting to reach the podium after a difficult start dropped him to tenth place. With this result, he’ll officially have the first match point in Australia to clinch the rookie title. Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 teammate Alvaro Carpe had an unlucky Sunday, crashing while attempting to overtake another rider on Lap 10, when battling for second place with two more riders.

With track temperatures reaching 64°C, the Moto3 field raced in conditions very similar to those experienced during the previous days of the Indonesian Grand Prix weekend.

Poleman Uriarte dropped to second place at the end of the first straight, losing significant ground amidst overtaking moves and a major scare when exiting Turn 10. This pushed him outside the top 10, forcing him to close a gap of over 1.5 seconds to the lead group. He finally latched back onto the pack on Lap 9, trailing the podium spots. However, contact between Carpe and another rider reignited the battle for the final rostrum position; Uriarte emerged from the chasing group with another rider, as they pulled away and the rookie clinched third on the last lap. It was his sixth podium finish of the season and brings his points total to 203. He moves up to third place in the overall standings, and only needs to put 12 more points between him and Veda Pratama to become Rookie of the Year in Australia.

Carpe made a strong start from third place, fighting to hold his position and even challenging for second place. Amidst a fierce battle in the lead group, the Spaniard nearly crashed on the penultimate corner, but he stayed up and remained in the Top 4. He held the position and was beginning to open a gap between himself and the five riders chasing the rostrum after the first third of the race, when the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider crashed out. While attempting to overtake another rider on the entry to Turn 10, he clipped the rear of the other bike and lost control of his own, going down and being unable to rejoin the race. With this retirement, ten laps from the finish, Carpe drops to fourth place in the overall standings with 191 points.

All in all, it was a bittersweet outcome in Indonesia for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 team, which came close to scoring a lot of points with both Spanish riders after a great weekend overall. Team’s thirteenth podium of the season brings their points total to 394 in the Team standings to keep the second place. The next round of the Moto3 World Championship will take place in Australia in two weeks’ time, from October 23rd–25th, where Phillip Island will host the last Grand Prix before moving the #AustralianGP to Adelaide.

Race Results
1. Maximo Quiles (KTM) | 32:36.821
2. David Almansa (KTM) | (+2.994)
3. Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | (+5.156)
4. Matteo Bertelle (KTM) | (+5.250)
5. Rico Salmela (KTM) | (+10.967)
DNF. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | (+10 laps)

Moto3 World Championship Standing 2026
1. Maximo Quiles (KTM) | 351 points
2. David Almansa (KTM) | 219 points
3. Brian Uriarte (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 203 points
4. Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo) | 191 points
5. Marco Morelli (KTM) | 146 points

Moto3 Teams World Championship Standing 2026
1. CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team | 497 points
2. Red Bull KTM Ajo | 394 points
3. Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP| 293 points
4. Red Bull KTM Tech3 | 215 points
5. Level UP – MTA | 182 points

NIKLAS AJO – Team Manager

“Overall I think it was a positive weekend, although today’s result leaves a little bit of disappointment for us. The target was to fight for the win today, but unfortunately a lot of things that happened at the beginning of the race prevented us from doing that. I’m very disappointed about how Alvaro’s race turned out, because I think there was a good chance for both riders to fight for the podium today. But this is how racing goes sometimes. The speed was there again for both riders during the weekend, so we just have to look forward and try again in Australia.”

#83 ALVARO CARPE

“It’s a pity that we ended the weekend like this, as it had been very positive right up until the crash. I think we were solid across all three days, and today we were contending for a strong podium finish. I felt comfortable the whole time and believed I was in with a shot at fighting for the rostrum until the end, but that’s racing; sometimes things go your way, and sometimes they don’t. We have to focus on the positives -which is practically everything: the team’s great work and the excellent form we’re in. We need to keep this momentum going to finish the season in the best possible way.”

#51 BRIAN URIARTE

“It was a very tough race today in Mandalika. I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather all weekend, which made things difficult for both the race and the rest of the weekend, but we managed to salvage the situation quite well -both in qualifying and in the race itself. We didn’t get off to a good start today; I had several close calls during the opening laps, and by the time I regained my confidence, I was already too far back. However, I made a good recovery and my pace in the second half of the race was strong, so we secured important points for the overall standings and are now looking ahead to Australia. I want to dedicate this podium to Kristian Daniel and his father.”