Muñoz & Pini start the season with grid rows 4 and 8 in Thailand
At the season opener in tropical and hot Thailand, LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP Team newcomer David Muñoz took tenth place on row four in Q2, while rookie Guido Pini will start his very first Moto3 World Championship race from row eight.
With air temperatures of 38°C and tarmac temperatures of over 60°C, man and machine were once again pushed to their limits on qualifying day in Buriram, Thailand. The conditions already made it difficult for the Moto3 riders on Friday.
But David Muñoz improved from 14th to 8th place from the first free practice to the practice session with his best time of the day of 1'41.436. From this season onwards, the Friday afternoon practice is the only session that decides who will take part in Qualifying 1 or 2 on Saturday. The teams now have another free practice session on Saturday morning to prepare for qualifying. With his P8 from Friday, the Spaniard was therefore safe in Q2, where he ultimately secured tenth place on the grid with a 1'40.784. This put the 18-year-old just 0.384s behind pole setter Matteo Bertelle.
Debutant Guido Pini cut a fine figure on the unfamiliar 4.55km Chang International Circuit in Buriram, even though the youngster had to cope with a crash on both Friday and Saturday. After finishing 17th on Friday, it was clear that he would have to line up in Q1 on Saturday. The Italian initially managed to improve his best time from the previous day by an impressive 0.867s in FP2. In his first Q1, however, he crashed quite heavily and had to settle for 10th place. In the overall standings, this meant 24th place on the eighth row of the grid for the rookie. Now he and his team hope to be fit and pain-free for the 19-lap race that will open the 2025 Moto3 season at 07:15 am (CET) on Sunday, 2nd of March.
Results
FP1
1. Ryusei YAMANAKA/ JPN/ KTM – 1'40.851
2. Jose Antonio RUEDA/ SPA/ KTM – 1'40.901 (+0.050)
3. Matteo BERTELLE/ ITA/ KTM – 1'41.017 (+0.166)
14. David MUÑOZ SPA/ KTM – 1'41.687 (+0.836)
19. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'42.237 (+1.386)
PR
1. Matteo BERTELLE/ ITA/ KTM – 1'40.931
2. Stefano NEPA/ ITA/ HONDA – 1'41.166 (+0.235)
3. Jose Antonio RUEDA/ SPA/ KTM – 1'41.191 (+0.260)
8. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'41.436 (+0.505)
17. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'42.057 (+1.126)
FP2
1. Jose Antonio RUEDA/ SPA/ KTM – 1'40.350
2. Adrian FERNANDEZ/ SPA/ HONDA – 1'40.506 (+0.156)
3. Stefano NEPA/ ITA/ HONDA – 1'40.655 (+0.305)
9. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'40.878 (+0.528)
12. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'41.190 (+0.840)
Q1
1. Alvaro CARPE/ SPA/ KTM – 1'40.946
2. Tatchakorn BUASRI/ THA/ HONDA – 1'41.233 (+0.287)
3. Dennis FOGGIA/ ITA/ KTM – 1'41.276 (+0.330)
10. Guido PINI/ ITA/ KTM – 1'42.329 (+1.383)
Q2
1. Matteo BERTELLE/ ITA/ KTM – 1'40.400
2. Stefano NEPA/ ITA/ HONDA – 1'40.482 (+0.082)
3. Jose Antonio RUEDA/ SPA/ KTM – 1'40.496 (+0.096)
10. David MUÑOZ/ SPA/ KTM – 1'40.784 (+0.384)
