MOTO3: HAKIM DANISH FINISHES 18TH IN 2026 SEASON OPENING RACE

KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 (Bernama) -- Young Malaysian rider Muhammad Hakim Danish Ramli completed his debut Moto3 race of the 2026 season in 18th place at the Thailand Grand Prix (GP) Motorcycle World Championship (MotoGP) at Chang International Circuit, Buriram, today.

Starting from 15th place, the AEON Credit-MT Helmets-MSI rider struggled to challenge the front group, which saw him complete the 19-lap race on the 4.554-kilometre circuit with a gap of +25.810 seconds (s) behind champion David Almansa from Liqui Moly Dynavolt Intact GP.

Almansa recorded 32 minutes 14.18s to deny the fierce competition of Maximo Quiles from CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team who had to settle for second place after being separated by a time difference of only +0.003s and Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider Valentin Perrone completed the podium in third place (+9.480s).

Almansa is currently leading the championship standings with 25 points, followed by Quiles (20 points), Perrone (16 points) and Hakim Danish failed to collect any points from the Thailand GP.

Meanwhile, young national rider Qabil Irfan Azlan managed to secure his first podium position this season in the second race of the first round of the 2026 Moto4 Asian Cup at the same circuit.

Qabil Irfan emerged as runner-up with a time of 26:56.174s behind champion Hayato Chishiki from Japan (26:53.974s) while Bintang Pranata was in third place (27:03.698s).

The result saw Qabil Irfan make up for his failure to secure a podium position in the first race yesterday in sixth place (27:04.211s).

-- BERNAMA