Veda Ega Pratama is not satisfied with his San Marino Moto3 qualification results, and is fully prepared to bounce back and perform better during the actual race.

Veda Ega Pratama will start the 2026 San Marino Moto3 race from 15th position after navigating a difficult qualifying session at Misano Circuit, Italy, on Saturday, 12 September 2026.

This result does not fully represent Veda's actual potential. The Honda Team Asia rider had previously demonstrated promising pace by placing inside the top five during the final free practice session, FP2.

However, he was unable to repeat this strong performance when qualifying began. Despite qualifying directly through to Q2, Veda only recorded a best lap time of 1 minute 42.041 seconds over the 15-minute session.

This time initially placed Veda 16th on the provisional grid, around 1.4 seconds behind David Almansa, who secured pole position for IntactGP.

Veda's starting position was later promoted one place. Multiple riders received penalties after the qualifying session, which elevated the Gunungkidul, Yogyakarta native to 15th on the final starting grid.

Veda acknowledged that the second day of the 2026 San Marino Moto3 event had not run smoothly. Wet track conditions during the morning session had actually suited him, allowing him to run competitively and finish 5th in free practice.

"Today was a hard day," stated Veda via an official Honda Team Asia release.

"In the morning session, with the changing track conditions, I was able to finish in 5th position."

"But during qualifying I could not put together a clean fastest lap, and I was not able to improve on my lap times from the previous day," he added.

Veda's difficulties became more pronounced in the final stages of qualifying. He still had remaining attempts to improve his time, but traffic and movements from other riders on circuit broke his rhythm.

This disruption impacted him most severely in the first sector of Misano Circuit. Veda lost critical time when another rider overtook him at the first corner.

"On my final flying lap, I was holding almost identical pace to the other riders through most parts of the track," Veda explained.

"But at the first corner another rider passed me, and I lost roughly one ninth of a second right there."

"That ruined my first sector, but every other sector was matching the pace of the riders around me. So I know we have the speed," he continued.

Following this post-qualifying assessment, Veda has now shifted his full focus to the main race. The first sector has been marked as the key area he will refine with his team before the race begins.

Starting from 15th position certainly creates a difficult challenge for Veda. Nevertheless, the 17-year-old rider still sees clear opportunity to gain positions over the full 20-lap race distance.

"I need to fix my performance in the first sector, and we will work through that together with the team," said Veda.

"Starting from 15th means this will be a tough race."

"But this is a long race. I will keep pushing on every single lap and give everything I have to fight my way forward through the field," he added.

The 2026 San Marino Moto3 race is scheduled to get underway on Sunday 13 September 2026 at 16:00 WIB. Veda will aim to maximise his race pace to climb up the order, after starting just inside the points scoring zone on the grid.