Veda Ega Wants to Start in the Front Row of the United States Moto3 2026

Veda Ega Pratama aspires to get a front grid during the Moto3 Grand Prix of the United States (Instagram/@veda_54).

JAKARTA - Young racer Veda Ega Pratama aspires to get a front row start position in the 2026 Moto3 race at the United States Grand Prix which will take place this weekend.

The United States Moto3 race at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA), Texas, United States, is scheduled to take place on March 27-30, 2026. This is the third series in the race calendar this season.

Veda said that he intends to get good results again after the previous two series were able to bring him to the third position in the driver standings.

"Of course I want to start the race from the front row if I can. I always try to be the best," he said in an online interview on Thursday, March 26, 2026, evening.

The 17-year-old rider managed to climb to the third podium at the Moto3 Grand Prix of Brazil last weekend. He finished behind Maximo Quiles as the race winner and Marco Morelli in second place.

This achievement makes Veda make history as the first Indonesian racer to make it to the podium in the Grand Prix arena. Before that, he finished in fifth place in the first series which took place in Buriram, Thailand.

"Before the race in Brazil yesterday, I had a good feeling since the first day. When I saw the track walk, I also liked the layout," said the racer born in Wonosari.

The test faced by Veda Ega Pratama at the United States Moto3 Grand Prix is certainly much heavier than the Brazilian series. COTA is recorded as one of the circuits with many turns and difficult obstacles.

Veda did not deny that COTA is one of the most intimidating circuits in the racing calendar. Based on his monitoring through game simulations and last year's race footage, the level of difficulty of this circuit is at a different level.

"If I look at the layout of the circuit and played the MotoGP game, there is a zig-zag part, and I watched the race last year, many fell during qualifying," he said.

Currently, Veda is in third place in the standings with 27 points from the two series that have been held. Runner-up Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup 2025 was behind Quiles (45 points) in first place and Morelli in second place (28 points).