ThePitcrewOnline

Day: 7 September 2025

  • Barcelona brilliance: Piqueras wins the battle, Rueda saves the day

    Barcelona brilliance: Piqueras wins the battle, Rueda saves the day

    Ángel Piqueras (FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI) produced a brilliant ride at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to take his fourth win of the season, beating José Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in a nail-biting finish. The victory trims the Spaniard’s title deficit by five points, (-64 points now) while Rueda recovered from an early Long Lap penalty (collected for riding slow on line in practice – 2nd offence) to snatch P2 in the final corner. Taiyo Furusato (Honda Team Asia) completed the podium after another classy ride, marking his second rostrum of 2025.

    Photo Credit: Pirelli Press Office

    Starting from his maiden pole, David Almansa (Le0pard Racing) made the holeshot stick, but the action exploded behind him. Maximo Quiles (CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar) rocketed through from ninth to P4 on the opening lap, while Piqueras slipped down the order to P6. Title leader Rueda immediately served his Long Lap penalty on Lap 3, tumbling from fifth to 15th – but the #99 was far from done.

    By Lap 4, Piqueras had bulldozed his way up to third, with Rueda already slicing back into the top 10. The lead group was a freight train, Almansa still heading the charge with Quiles, Muñoz, and Piqueras all in close quarters. On Lap 9, Hungarian GP winner Quiles surged into P1, only to be quickly countered by Almansa and Piqueras. Disaster struck for Jacob Roulstone (Red Bull KTM Tech3) who suffered yet another technical issue forcing him out of the race. Kiwi Cormac Buchanan (Denssi Racing – BOE) also crashed out on lap 9.

    The relentless shuffle continued until Lap 11, when Rueda finally hit the front for the first time. He tried to break clear with four laps to go, opening half a second over the pack, but the chasers refused to let him escape. Almansa, Piqueras, and Furusato dragged him back into range.

    Photo Credit: Pirelli Press Office

    The final lap was pure chaos. Piqueras made a bold lunge at Turn 1 to seize the lead. Rueda slipped back to fourth behind Furusato and Almansa, but the championship leader wasn’t finished – throwing his KTM up the inside at the last corner to snatch second. Piqueras, however, held firm for a crucial victory that could shape the title battle.

    Behind them, Furusato sealed a deserved podium in third, while Almansa and teammate Adrián Fernández (Le0pard Racing) rounded out the top five, a good result for the pair of Hondas however Furusato in P3 wasn’t enough to keep Honda in the constructors fight with KTM taking home the constructors championship this weekend. Guido Pini claimed sixth, ahead of Joel Kelso (Levelup MTA) who was beaten up in the early laps and unable to recover, David Muñoz (Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP) and Ryusei Yamanaka (Frinsa – MT Helmets – MSI) who had an impressive charge through the field after a back of the grid (collected for for slow riding in qualifying – 2nd offence) picked up nineth place and Valentín Perrone brought it home in tenth place.

    Luca Lunetta (SIC58 Squadra Corse) lead the next group of riders across the line in eleventh place, despite the impressive start Quiles crossed the line in twelfth place ahead of fellow rookie Alvaro Carpe (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Scott Ogden (CIP Green Power) and Marcos Uriarte rounded out the point scoring places with 14th and 15th respectfully.

    🏁 Moto3 Barcelona GP – Race Results

    Pos Rider Team Time/Gap
    1 Ángel Piqueras 🇪🇸 FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI 32:40.243
    2 José Antonio Rueda 🇪🇸 Red Bull KTM Ajo +0.081
    3 Taiyo Furusato 🇯🇵 Honda Team Asia +0.156
    4 David Almansa 🇪🇸 Leopard Racing +0.229
    5 Adrián Fernández 🇪🇸 Leopard Racing +0.542
    6 Guido Pini 🇮🇹 LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP +0.587
    7 Joel Kelso 🇦🇺 LEVELUP-MTA +0.773
    8 David Muñoz 🇪🇸 LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP +1.216
    9 Ryusei Yamanaka 🇯🇵 FRINSA – MT Helmets – MSI +1.240
    10 Valentín Perrone 🇦🇷 Red Bull KTM Tech3 +1.289
    11 Luca Lunetta 🇮🇹 SIC58 Squadra Corse +4.973
    12 Maximo Quiles 🇪🇸 CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team +5.005
    13 Álvaro Carpe 🇪🇸 Red Bull KTM Ajo +5.067
    14 Scott Ogden 🇬🇧 CIP Green Power +8.197
    15 Marcos Uriarte 🇪🇸 LEVELUP-MTA +17.124
    16 Riccardo Rossi 🇮🇹 Rivacold Snipers Team +18.135
    17 Marco Morelli 🇦🇷 GRYD – Mlav Racing +18.167
    18 Ruche Moodley 🇿🇦 DENSSI Racing – BOE +19.079
    19 Dennis Foggia 🇮🇹 CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team +19.505
    20 Nicola Carraro 🇮🇹 Rivacold Snipers Team +20.330
    21 Noah Dettwiler 🇨🇭 CIP Green Power +24.386
    22 Eddie O’Shea 🇬🇧 GRYD – Mlav Racing +27.245
    23 Stefano Nepa 🇮🇹 SIC58 Squadra Corse +31.955
    24 Arbi Aditama 🇮🇩 Honda Team Asia +58.381
    NC Cormac Buchanan 🇳🇿 DENSSI Racing – BOE 9 Laps
    NC Jacob Roulstone 🇦🇺 Red Bull KTM Tech3 9 Laps
  • WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu masters Magny-Cours to seal 12 consecutive wins

    WorldSBK: Razgatlioglu masters Magny-Cours to seal 12 consecutive wins

    After a dominant display in qualifying and Race 1, Toprak Razgatlioglu unsurprisingly rode off into the distance on the Sunday of the French Round to take a 4th consecutive hat-trick and 12th win in a row in 2025 ahead of a demoralised Nicolo Bulega.

     

    Tissot Superpole Race

    Bulega very briefly led the Sunday morning 10-lap race in Magny-Cours before Razgatlioglu secured the win with a clinical move at the tight hairpin halfway round the opening lap to ease home for another victory.  A mistake for Bulega at turn 15 at the end of lap 3 left the Italian behind the Lowes’ brothers, which sealed the deal for any hopes of a battle for the race win.

    Alex Lowes once again came home in 3rd despite running behind his brother Sam in the early stages.  Sam was cycled back to 4th when Bulega came past him and Alex a lap and a half after his mistake, but the MarcVDS rider then crashed out with 4 laps to go with much bigger consequences than yesterday to leave him stranded down the grid for Race 2.

    The best-of-the-rest fight for 4th place became a battle between Danilo Petrucci and Michael van der Mark.  Clearly van der Mark’s contusions from yesterday’s crashes were not slowing him down as he came home a solid 5th behind Petrucci.  Andrea Iannone meanwhile just held off Jonathan Rea, Axel Bassani and Xavi Vierge for 6th.

    Rea was fortunate to even make it to the finish after he had to take avoiding action at the hairpin at one point which led to Alvaro Bautista slamming into the back of him.  Bautista ended up on the floor and – like Sam Lowes – one of the quick riders stuck outside of the top 3 rows for Race 2 in the afternoon.

    Tissot Superpole Race Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Race 2

    Razgatlioglu defended his lead at the start of Race 2, Bulega held onto 2nd, and Alex Lowes settled into 3rd to seal the exact same podium for all three events this weekend in Magny Cours.  It was another dominant display from the BMW rider who sealed a 12th consecutive victory and leaves him with a 39-point lead in the championship with just 3 rounds (and 12 races) to go in 2025.

    The action at the start of Race 2 was provided by a fast-starting Rea who shot up to 4th place from 7th on the grid.  Bautista was also riding like a man possessed from a lowly 14th on the grid after another pair of unfortunate crashes in the previous 2 races.

    By the end of the race Bautista was so rapid that he almost caught Alex Lowes for the final podium spot.  It was thrilling to watch the Ducati rider scythe away through the order, particularly against a rejuvenated Michael van der Mark who came home a solid 5th place behind Bautista.

    Alex Lowes had been battling Danilo Petrucci for 4th initially before the Barni Ducati rider lost his pace, while Rea also fell into 6th ahead of Vierge – who himself had initially squabbled with van der Mark.  Rea had challenged Alex Lowes for 3rd for as long as he could, but the Bimota, factory BMW and factory Ducati’s were just a little too quick for the retiring legend to stay in the podium battle for long.

    Behind Petrucci in 7th came Locatelli, Aegerter and Gerloff rounding out the top 10, with only 2 seconds separating those 4.  Tarran MacKenzie and substitute HRC rider Sergio Garcia rounded out the points scorers after solid rides to 14th and 15th places respectively.

    Razgatlioglu was 8 seconds clear of Bulega at the flag and enjoyed a symbolic celebration at the same corner where he crashed at high-speed last year which ruled him out of action for that particular round.  With a 39-point gap at the top of the standings and Bulega seemingly unable to thwart his BMW nemesis like he could do earlier in the campaign, Razgatlioglu is well on his way to a 3rd WorldSBK title ahead of his much-awaited MotoGP move in 2026.

    Race 2 Results

    Image Credit: WorldSBK

    Feature Image Credit: WorldSBK