Máximo Quiles has won the Spanish Grand Prix and capped off a perfect weekend. The CFMOTO Aspar Team rider secured what he described as his best victory today after starting from pole position.
The Moto3 race at the Spanish Grand Prix promised to be one of the most exciting of the year. Máximo Quiles started the race from pole position and, although this was his first World Championship race at the Andalusian circuit, he demonstrated a maturity usually seen in the category’s most experienced riders. The CFMOTO Aspar Team rider led the opening laps but lost the lead halfway through the race. The leading group was reduced to just three riders for much of the race, including the Spaniard, and Quiles bided his time before attacking in the final laps to secure his second win of the season.
His team-mate Marco Morelli also completed his first Spanish Grand Prix in fine style. The CFMOTO Aspar Team rider had to fight his way up the field after starting from the fourth row of the grid and, although he lost a few places at the start, he soon set a blistering pace to overtake several of his rivals. By the halfway point of the race, Morelli was already leading the second group and setting lap times even faster than the front-runners, which allowed him to close the gap by several tenths on every lap. With just three laps to go, the Argentine stepped up the pace once more, catching up with the leading group to fight for a place on the podium at Jerez, and although he managed to move up to second place, he ultimately finished fourth.
In Moto2, David Alonso and Dani Holgado had enviable grid positions, sixth and seventh respectively, to shine today in Jerez. Holgado took advantage of this and was fifth on the first lap, but a mistake shifting gears at the start dropped Alonso into the middle of the pack, causing him to lose time and distance to the leading riders. That moment defined the Colombian's race, as he had to fight his way back from twelfth place and at one point was more than six seconds behind the leader. Little by little, the CFMOTO Aspar Team rider recovered the lost ground, at times lapping more than half a second faster than the riders ahead of him. This faster pace, however, wasn't enough to secure a podium finish. As in Austin, Alonso was just a few laps away from a top-three finish, but with this fourth place, he now sits sixth in the standings, one point behind his teammate.
Dani Holgado was unable to capitalize on his form today in Jerez. Dani Holgado couldn't finish the weekend among the frontrunners, as he did on Friday and Saturday, and had to settle for eleventh place after a mentally demanding race, in which he nevertheless managed to avoid mistakes he might regret later.