Veda learns from long lap penalty in Moto3 Hungary

Indonesian rider Veda Ega Pratama took away valuable lessons from the long lap penalty he received during the Moto3 Hungarian Grand Prix 2026 on Sunday (7/6). “After the qualifying session, I was called to Race Direction. They showed me the video, and that’s when I found out about the violation I committed,” Veda said during an interview session in Jakarta on Tuesday. The penalty stemmed from an incident in the Q2 qualifying session on Saturday (6/6), when Veda was preparing to enter the pit lane but first ran wide into the gravel before trying to rejoin the track. “So during Q2, I did want to enter the pit lane. On that lap I went wide into the gravel and then I tried to get back onto the circuit,” Veda explained. Upon re-entering the track, the Honda Team Asia rider said he spotted two riders behind him but assumed they were travelling slowly as the session had reached the stage where riders typically change tyres. However, Veda only discovered after the session that one of the riders behind him was on a flying lap. “I thought that usually mid-session most riders change tyres. I thought they were also going slowly, so I wasn’t really disturbing them. Then at the next corner it turned out one of those two riders was going fast and I didn’t know it,” Veda said. MotoGP stated on its official website that Veda was hit with a long lap penalty for slowing and impeding CODE Motorsports rider Ruche Moodley at Turn 5 during Q2. The sanction made Veda’s race more difficult. After starting from ninth position, the rider from Gunungkidul, Special Region of Yogyakarta, had to settle for 16th place and failed to add to his points tally. Veda noted the penalty was not the only challenge he faced at the Balaton Park Circuit. He also had to adapt to the circuit’s layout featuring many chicanes, poor tyre grip, and hotter weather conditions during the race. His preparations were also far from ideal after he crashed during the second free practice session (FP2) on Saturday, which is typically used for race simulation. As a result, his motorcycle needed repairs and he could not complete the long-run programme with his team. “Usually we do a race simulation. However, I fell on the third lap and the bike needed time to be repaired. In the end we couldn’t continue. So the bike’s setting wasn’t ready for the race because we hadn’t had the chance to do a race simulation,” Veda explained. Although he failed to score points in Hungary, Veda remains near the top in his debut Moto3 season. After the Balaton Park round, Veda sits sixth in the provisional rider standings with 71 points. Veda said the result in Hungary is part of the learning process in his first season in the Grand Prix World Championship. He wants to be more consistent in the points zone and is in no rush to set podium targets. “For now, I’m just learning to be consistent in the points zone and at the front. Maybe a podium is a bonus,” Veda concluded.