The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider will start the Brazilian Grand Prix from fifth place on the grid after missing out on the top three by a tenth

Marco Morelli will start the Brazilian Grand Prix race from fifth on the grid, his best result since his Moto3 debut. The CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team rider put in a strong performance on Saturday, as did his team-mate Máximo Quiles. The Spaniard also had a chance to fight for a front-row spot, although a crash prevented him from improving his times and he will ultimately start eleventh. Today’s pole position went to Joel Esteban, who will lead the grid for the first time, followed by Valentín Perrone and Hakim Danish.

The Moto3 riders were finally able to complete a session with the track in dry conditions and with hardly any patches of water. This morning’s free practice was key to preparing for the afternoon’s qualifying, and Máximo Quiles and Marco Morelli completed it feeling confident and even occupying the top two positions in the standings within the first few minutes. In the afternoon, the qualifying session for the lightweight class saw its usual schedule disrupted by track conditions and did not take place until after the MotoGP Sprint race. With the CFMOTO Gaviota Aspar Team in full force in Q2, both riders took to the track determined to continue improving their times. Following a brief red flag break due to a crash before the first lap had even been completed, the session resumed and both Quiles and Morelli showed great form to secure front-row positions from the early stages. With just eight minutes remaining, the Spaniard suffered a crash, but was able to get back on track to fight again for a top-three spot. Although he did not have enough time to improve his lap times, his 1:27.013 was his best time of the weekend and placed him in eleventh position. His teammate Marco Morelli remained in the top three until almost the end of the session. The Spanish-Argentinian rider put in a strong performance, securing his best qualifying result since his debut in the category. Thanks to his 1:26.560, he will start tomorrow’s race from the second row, in fifth position.

5th Marco Morelli 1:26.560 (+0.772): “We did a good job and I managed to get fifth position after fighting for the front row. In the end, I gave the lap to other riders who were following me and took advantage of that to finish ahead of me, but these things happen. We have the pace to put up a fight in tomorrow's race, and I'm very happy with how we finished the day after all the delays.”

11th Máximo Quiles 1:27.013 (+0.772): “Today I had a very good feeling for qualifying, but the crash prevented me from doing better. On that lap I was going to push a bit harder, because I had only done one flying lap and I think I could have set a very good time. I was able to get back on track, but I wasn't as comfortable. I tried to stay calm, but I kept having the same scares in the same places. I could have done much better, but I'm happy because I maintained a good attitude. I know what happened; it was a matter of feeling with the tyres. Tomorrow we'll go into the race with a different mindset to move up positions from the start.”