Valentín Perrone was 18 thousandths of a second away from victory in Moto3, but achieved the best result of his career: "I don't know how I didn't crash."

"I don't know how I didn't fall, how I didn't hit the ground." Valentín Perrone (KTM) , in his Spanish vein but with the Argentine heart he inherited from his father who emigrated after the country's economic crisis in 2001 , achieved his best result in Moto3 this Sunday, the second MotoGP support event, by finishing in second place in the Hungarian Grand Prix , after leading until the last lap and finishing just 18 thousandths of a second behind the Spaniard Máximo Quiles (KTM) , the race winner.

THE BEST FINISH OF THE YEAR! Valentín Perrone and Máximo Quiles battled until the last second and gave us the most thrilling Moto3 finish. 😱🔥The Spaniard won by 0.018 thousandths of a second. 😳

📺 Watch the MotoGP championship with the #DisneyPlus Premium Plan. pic.twitter.com/WthxucoZLM

— ESPN MotoGP (@MotoGP_ESPN) August 24, 2025

It was a thrilling finish, because on that final turn, Quiles tried to match Valentín Perrone under braking on the main straight but couldn't quite pull it off. He stuck with him, and at turn five he tried again, this time successfully. The Argentine didn't give up and looked for a way to regain first place, even until the final corner , where he drew level with Quiles, who ultimately won by a meager 0.018 seconds, with David Muñoz third.

"I imagined that ending because I could see them on the screen and I knew Máximo was going to overtake me. My strategy was to hold on as long as possible until he overtook me and then take a chance at the end because everyone was on soft tires and I was on medium, a risky bet but one that paid off. We tried it in the morning and the soft tire was destroying itself after eight laps, so we chose the medium. It's a bit harder and slower in the first few laps. It made me have a hard time. I was at my limit, I don't know how I didn't crash, but I stayed calm, thinking, using my head and on the last lap I gave it my all, I gave everything I had, but I was 0.018 off the win. I've learned a lot," Perrone explained in statements to ESPN.

"Being strong in Austria ( he achieved pole position but was left off the podium due to an unfortunate touch ) and now here confirms that I now have full confidence in the bike to fight in every race, unless a circuit comes along that is a bit more difficult for me," concluded the 17-year-old Catalan, who in June had finished third on the Assen circuit, the 'cathedral' of this sport in the Netherlands.

'Coyote' Perrone finished seventh in the World Championship standings with 92 points , ahead of leader José Antonio Rueda (Spain) with 250 points, who finished fifth in Hungary.

For Spaniard Quiles (KTM), it was his second win of the season as a Moto3 rookie and the culmination of a great weekend in which he had taken pole position on Saturday. It was no surprise, therefore, that he held onto the lead, with Ángel Piqueras hot on his tail despite a slight clash with David Muñoz.

Quiles tried to push hard from the first few metres of the race, during which he kept the Argentinian Perrone (KTM) close to his wheel, separating himself from a first trio formed by Ángel Piqueras, David Muñoz and Álvaro Carpe (KTM) and a second trio with the Italian Guido Pini (KTM), the Australian Jakob Roulstone (KTM) and the leader José Antonio Rueda.

Quiles was always at the front of the race and with the chasing group more than 1.7 seconds behind on the third lap of the race, with fellow Spaniard Adrián Fernández (Honda) and Japanese Taiyo Furusato (Honda) leading the way.

At a record lap pace of 1:45.763, even below the best training time (1:46.060), Máximo Quiles stretched the pace of the race in a 'brutal' way, stretching the rope to the maximum.

The Spaniard's lightning pace saw five riders advance ahead of him, while others gradually fell behind, although José Antonio Rueda made every effort to stay in touch with the leading group.

Always with Quiles in the lead, Ángel Piqueras, Perrone and David Muñoz followed in his wake, with Pini and Rueda trying to catch up with them a few meters behind.

Perrone took the lead halfway through the twenty-lap race, when he overtook Máximo Quiles, who perhaps wanted to take a break to fully face the outcome.

Valentín Perrone held onto the lead, while behind him, changes and overtaking continued almost non-stop, as is customary in this category.

It seemed that the Catalan, an Argentinian by choice, had a lead over his pursuers by just three-tenths of a second, but despite trying to make the most of it until the end, he was unable to do so due to the aforementioned outcome.

Behind the three on the podium, then, were Ángel Piqueras, who closed the gap in the World Championship standings to José Antonio Rueda by two points, who finished behind him. Sixth place went to Adrián Fernández, ahead of David Almansa, Joel Kelso, Álvaro Carpe, and Jakob Roulstone, who completed the top ten.