Australian contender Joel Kelso was on track to collect a maiden Moto3 World Championship race win at the French Grand Prix, holding the lead of the encounter until the final corner, where late contact would ultimately leave him with a second-place finish.

The LevelUP-MTA rider notched third place in qualifying and a subsequent front-row start, before charging to the lead of the Grand Prix soon after the lights went out at the Le Mans circuit.

Holding strong at the front of the field, the 21-year-old appeared on track for the victory, before a final corner dive from David Munoz (LIQUI MOLY Dynavolt Intact GP) sent both he and Kelso off the track, opening the door for Jose Antonio Rueda (Red Bull KTM Ajo) to slide through for the win.

Munoz and Kelso crossed the line in second and third place, however, the former was handed a one-position post-race penalty for the contact at the final turn, elevating Kelso into P2.

“Well, what could have been… Led the whole race but just came up short at the end,” reflected Kelso. “I don’t even want to talk about what happened at the final corner – I just want to focus on the positives, [and] we dominated the race.

“Another podium on the board and even more fire in the belly to chase that first race win – all the hard work is going to pay off soon.”

With his Le Mans result, Kelso currently sits third overall in the 2025 Moto3 points standings, with the seventh round of this year’s championship taking place at the Silverstone circuit for the British Grand Prix on May 23-25.