Uriarte Edges Quiles for Second Moto3 Win of the Season

Bryan Uriarte secured his second Moto3 victory of the season, triumphing at the German Grand Prix after an intense, nail-biting duel with Maximo Quiles in the final laps.

The two riders were in a league of their own at the Sachsenring today, pulling significantly ahead of their closest competitors in the second half of the 23-lap race. Pole-sitter Uriarte led for much of the race, but a slight error at the start of lap 15 allowed Quiles to take the lead.

However, the season's dominant rider held onto the top spot for only a few corners before making a mistake himself. Towards the end of lap 20, Uriarte momentarily lost speed on the downhill section of the "Waterfall" as he adjusted something on the left side of his gear, which allowed Quiles to overtake him under braking for Turn 12.

It seemed the championship leader would hold off his rival to claim his seventh victory of 2026. But in Turn 3 of the final lap, the Aspar rider briefly lost the front end of his bike, coming close to a crash. He managed to save it and stay in the race, but this opened the door for Uriarte, who seized the opportunity instantly to reclaim the lead.

In the final two corners, Quiles attempted to challenge Uriarte, but the KTM rider held his nerve, fending off the championship leader to win by a mere 0.063 seconds. Matteo Bertelli finished third, a significant 4.990 seconds behind the winner, marking his first podium finish since the French Grand Prix at Le Mans two months prior.

The Italian secured the third podium spot after a photo-finish battle with Marco Morelli. Bertelli opted for a slightly slower entry into the final corner, which allowed him to open the throttle earlier and edge out Morelli right at the end, crossing the finish line with a 0.007-second advantage over the Argentine, who finished fourth.

Rico Salmela finished fifth, with Adrian Fernandez, Jesus Rios, Veda Pratama, Ryusei Yamanaka, and Eddie O'Shea completing the top 10. Alvaro Carpe, who was running fifth in the first half of the race, made a significant error at Turn 8 on lap 12 and narrowly avoided a massive crash.

He managed to control his bike and stay in the race after running through the run-off area. However, this cost him approximately seven seconds and six positions, which he couldn't recover, ultimately finishing 11th. Behind him, Hakim Danish, Cormac Buchanan, Joel Kelso, and Guido Pini also secured points.

In the overall standings at the season's halfway point, Quiles leads with 231 points, holding a 104-point advantage over today's winner, Uriarte. Carpe rounds out the top three, 105 points adrift of the leader.

The Moto3 riders now head into a well-deserved one-month summer break, which will conclude between August 7th and 9th with the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone.