Indonesia’s Veda Pratama secures nation’s historic first Moto3 podium

Representing Honda Team Asia, the 17yearold racer delivered a consistent run in the Moto3 race, which was briefly halted by a red flag, finishing third behind Spain’s Maximo Quiles and Argentina’s Marco Morelli—both representing CFMoto Aspar Team.
“It was incredible. I was struggling before the red flag was shown, but this is my highest achievement so far,” Pratama said in a postrace interview.
He credited the historic podium to the support of Indonesians, acknowledging the encouragement he received throughout the event.
“I would like to thank all people of Indonesia, the sponsors, and my family who were watching from Indonesia. This feels incredible,” he said.
Pratama started from the fourth grid and showed promise by climbing to third in the opening laps. The Yogyakarta-born racer then faced tougher challenges, dropping to seventh after a clash with another competitor.
He later slipped to tenth before gaining one position after race leader David Almansa crashed. The incident gave way for Quiles to take the lead, with a time gap reaching four seconds from the closest rider.
The race went to a halt after a red flag on the 15th lap. Pratama restarted from the 10th grid, with five additional laps added to the event.
On the restart, Quiles maintained his dominance and crossed the finish line first, followed by teammate Morelli.
The Indonesian racer made the most of the restart, steadily climbing to third to secure the podium finish, crossing the line just 1.650 seconds behind the leader. The result marked a clear improvement from his fifth-place finish in the season’s opening Moto3 race in Thailand.
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Translator: M. Ramdan, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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