Veda Ega Takes Sixth and Breaks Rookie Points Mark as Quiles Wins Moto3 Title at Mandalika

Two milestones in one Mandalika race

Veda Ega Pratama finished sixth at the Indonesian Moto3 Grand Prix on Sunday, October 11, 2026, earning 10 points and passing a Honda Team Asia rookie benchmark previously held by Ai Ogura. Ahead of the Indonesian teenager, Spain's Maximo Quiles won his tenth race of the season and secured the world championship with five rounds remaining.

At Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit in Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Quiles completed the race in 32 minutes 36.821 seconds. David Almansa finished 2.994 seconds behind him, while Veda crossed the line 12.017 seconds after the winner.

The result brought Veda's championship total to 115 points, six more than the 109 Ogura scored in his debut Moto3 season with Honda Team Asia in 2019. For the 17 year old, sixth place at his home event also meant a move from eighth to seventh in the championship standings.

Quiles, meanwhile, reached 351 points against Almansa's 219. His advantage of 132 points exceeded the 125 still available across the final five races, settling the championship before the season's closing stretch.

MotoGP's official race report confirms Quiles as champion and places Brian Uriarte third after a pass on Matteo Bertelle during the final lap. Some reports reverse those two positions or differ on other race details. The official account provides the basis for the podium and the penalty adjustment described below.

Veda turns sixth place into a team record

Veda started seventh and gained one position by the finish. He competed near the front during the race before finishing behind Rico Salmela, who matched his best Grand Prix result with fifth place. Their finishing gaps put Veda 1.050 seconds behind the Finnish rider.

The 10 points mattered beyond the home race result. Veda arrived at Mandalika with 105 points, four short of Ogura's rookie total. He left with 115, surpassing that mark with five opportunities still remaining to add to his tally.

The comparison is specifically a Honda Team Asia Moto3 rookie benchmark, rather than a record for every newcomer in the category. Ogura's 109 points came across his 2019 debut season; Veda has already exceeded that total before completing his own first campaign.

His season has included two third place finishes, in Brazil and France, and three fifth place finishes, in Thailand, Spain and the Czech Republic. Mandalika added another finish among the leading six riders to that collection.

Those results give the record more substance than a single strong home performance. Veda has scored podium finishes at two different rounds and built his points total through repeated competitive results. The remaining calendar gives him scope to extend the new team benchmark rather than merely hold it.

Why Quiles could settle the championship early

Quiles entered the Indonesian round with a reported 127 point lead over Almansa. Winning brought him 25 points, while second place gave Almansa 20. The five point difference between their race scores increased the championship gap to 132.

The calculation is straightforward: five races remain, each offering a maximum of 25 points to the winner. Even if Almansa won all five and Quiles scored nothing, Almansa would finish with 344 points, seven fewer than Quiles already holds.

That makes the title secure without needing a tie breaking calculation. Some reports described a 125 point advantage as the target entering the weekend, but the final margin surpassed that threshold outright.

The 18 year old CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider also reached ten victories for the season. MotoGP places his achievement of securing a world title with five rounds remaining alongside those of Mike Hailwood, Giacomo Agostini and Marc Marquez across the championship's classes. Reports describe Quiles as the first Moto3 rider to clinch the title that early.

How Quiles escaped the pack

According to MotoGP, Almansa took the lead at the start from second on the grid, while Quiles moved into second during the opening lap. Quiles then took control on lap two as the contest behind him became increasingly unsettled.

Adrian Fernandez fought into the podium positions, and Almansa fell as far back as eighth in the official account. By lap five, Almansa had recovered to second, giving him another opportunity to chase his championship rival.

A mistake by Quiles at Turn 16 reduced the gap to 1.6 seconds. At halfway, the leader was around 1.5 seconds ahead of Almansa, Fernandez and Alvaro Carpe. Quiles subsequently rebuilt his advantage rather than allowing the chasing group to reach him.

On lap 14, a track limits warning added a constraint. Such a warning tells a rider that further breaches of the permitted track boundary could bring a penalty. Quiles still had a 2.8 second advantage with two laps remaining and finished 2.994 seconds clear.

Reports differ over some early details. Several place Quiles sixth on the starting grid, while one lists Almansa on pole rather than second. Accounts also put Quiles' move into the lead on either lap two or lap three. MotoGP's account identifies lap two as the point from which he led.

A final lap pass decides the podium

Behind Almansa, Uriarte and Bertelle contested the last podium position. MotoGP says Uriarte passed Bertelle on the final lap, leaving the Red Bull KTM Ajo rider third and the LEVELUP MTA rider fourth.

The detailed race classification gives Uriarte a finishing gap of 5.156 seconds to Quiles and Bertelle a gap of 5.250 seconds. That separates them by just 0.094 seconds, less than one tenth of a second.

Two reports instead place Bertelle third and Uriarte fourth. That conflicts with both MotoGP's account of the final lap pass and the detailed results listing. The official account supports Uriarte taking the final podium place.

Salmela finished fifth, with Veda sixth. Farther back, the official report says Guido Pini crossed the line ahead of his Leopard Racing teammate Fernandez but received a penalty equivalent to a Long Lap Penalty for taking a shortcut at Turn 9. MotoGP consequently places Pini eighth, behind Fernandez.

A Long Lap Penalty normally requires a rider to take a longer marked route around a corner, adding time. An equivalent penalty applies that sanction through a time adjustment. Several results reports list Pini seventh and Fernandez eighth without reflecting the adjustment described by MotoGP.

Crashes and penalties reshape the race

The race behind Quiles included several crashes, recoveries and retirements. MotoGP reports that Casey O'Gorman crashed at Turn 5 on lap three, with SIC58 Squadra Corse teammate Leo Rammerstorfer falling in a separate incident. Ryota Ogiwara also crashed during that lap.

Other reports place those early falls on the first lap rather than the third. Their timing is therefore disputed, although the accounts agree that the two SIC58 riders and Ogiwara did not finish.

Carpe's incident is another point of difference. MotoGP says he contacted the back of Fernandez at Turn 10 on lap 11, crashed, continued and then made another mistake at Turn 2 a lap later. Other reports describe him as retiring following a crash on lap ten or with ten laps remaining. The detailed classification ultimately lists him as a nonfinisher.

Adrian Cruces crashed at Turn 16 but rejoined and finished 13th, taking three points. Ruche Moodley also resumed after a fall and was classified 20th. David Munoz retired after an earlier penalty, while Joel Kelso fell on the final lap.

The detailed classification and another full results account list six nonfinishers: Kelso, Carpe, Munoz, Ogiwara, O'Gorman and Rammerstorfer. One report gives four retirements instead. Six is the count supported by the full classification.

Several riders had also received grid sanctions during qualifying. Scott Ogden recovered from a reported 21st place start to finish tenth. Hakim Danish, sent to the back of the grid for riding slowly, recovered to 12th.

The race in sequence

The official race account traces how a crowded opening developed into a controlled victory for Quiles, with the final podium position unresolved until the last lap.

• Opening lap: Almansa leads from the start and Quiles moves into second.
• Lap two: Quiles takes the lead as battles behind him disrupt Almansa's position.
• Lap three: MotoGP records crashes involving O'Gorman, Rammerstorfer and Ogiwara, although other reports place them earlier.
• Lap five: Almansa recovers to second and resumes pursuit.
• Lap 11: Carpe crashes after contact with Fernandez, according to MotoGP.
• Lap 14: Quiles receives a track limits warning while leading by around two seconds.
• Final lap: Uriarte passes Bertelle for third.
• Finish: Quiles wins and secures the title; Veda takes sixth and reaches 115 championship points.

The sequence shows the contrast between the winner's race and the contests behind him. Quiles established enough space to manage the closing laps, while podium positions and points finishes remained exposed to passes, falls and penalties.

Records fall as the standings tighten behind the champion

Race results reporting credits Bertelle with a new Mandalika Moto3 race lap record of 1 minute 37.189 seconds. The previous benchmark, set by Jose Antonio Rueda in 2025, was 1 minute 37.225 seconds. Bertelle improved it by 0.036 seconds.

Quiles was also credited with a new absolute lap record of 1 minute 36.690 seconds in FP2, a practice session. That was 0.332 seconds faster than Fernandez's 2025 benchmark of 1 minute 37.022 seconds. The distinction matters: a race lap record covers laps set during the race, while the absolute record can come from another session.

In the championship, Uriarte holds third with 203 points, 16 behind Almansa and 12 ahead of Carpe on 191. Marco Morelli is fifth with 146, followed by Valentin Perrone on 123 and Veda on 115.

One report calls Perrone fifth, but the detailed standings place him sixth. Veda is therefore eight points short of sixth place and 31 short of Morelli in fifth. Behind Veda, Bertelle has 109 points and Danish 107, leaving only six points between seventh and eighth.

The five remaining rounds are Australia, Malaysia, Qatar, Portugal and Valencia. Dates for those events are not specified here. Reports also say Quiles is expected to move to Moto2 with Aspar in 2027, although the official Mandalika race account does not confirm that move.

For Veda, the next target is measurable: protect seventh, close the eight point gap to Perrone and continue adding to the Honda Team Asia rookie total. For Quiles, the championship is already decided, leaving the final five races as opportunities to add to his ten victories.

Key Points

• Veda Ega Pratama finished sixth at Mandalika and scored 10 points.
• His 115 point total exceeds Ai Ogura's 109 point Honda Team Asia Moto3 rookie benchmark from 2019.
• Maximo Quiles claimed his tenth victory of 2026 and secured the championship with five rounds remaining.
• Quiles leads David Almansa by 132 points, with only 125 still available.
• MotoGP places Brian Uriarte third after a final lap pass on Matteo Bertelle.
• Veda is seventh in the championship, eight points behind sixth placed Valentin Perrone.
• Reports disagree on some grid positions, crash timing and classifications; MotoGP's account includes a penalty moving Guido Pini to eighth.