Moto3™ Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) creates history after Qatar GP race win .

_ds04719_0.video_list_3x

27-kaito-toba-jpn-48-lorenzo-della-porta_dsc0263.small

actiona6607dc1-78ac-4872-b74c-46745f4541ca300.small

Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) became the first Japanese winner in the lightweight class since Tomoyoshi Koyama took victory in the 125cc race at the 2007 Catalan GP after a stunning ride in the Moto3™ race at the VisitQatar Grand Prix.

Toba started third on the grid but it was polesitter Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) who got the initial good launch from the line to lead into Turn 1, with Toba slotting into P2 ahead of second on the grid Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing).

There was drama on the opening lap further back though, with Jaume Masia (Bester Capital Dubai), Tom Booth-Amos (CIP – Green Power), Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing) and Makar Yurchenko (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) crashing out of contention at Turn 6, with the already injured Masia heading to the medical center for a checkup.

Back at the front and it was Canet, Dalla Porta, Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) and Tony Arbolino (Snipers Team) who got an initial break, but it wasn’t long before a lead group of top 19 formed – two seconds covering them in true Moto3™ fashion.

The lead swapped and changed between several riders, with Toba forcing his way to the front on Lap 6. A 19-rider fight then became 16, Turn 6 the location again as another multiple rider crash occurred – this time it was Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46), Kazuki Masaki (BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race) and Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) who crashed out.

Fellow SIC58 Squadra Corse rider Niccolo Antonelli then had a turn at leading the freight train with 10 to go, before Romano Fenati (Snipers Team) took the baton off his compatriot to lead for the first time in Qatar – nine laps to go.

The lead was changing lap by lap and with eight laps to go, any one of the top 15 were still in with a shout of the win. Then, with four laps to go, a major talking point of the race happened. Fenati seemed to misunderstand a track limits warning that appeared on his dashboard, the Italian then dived into the new ‘penalty lap’ area on the outside of Turn 6 to drop him from fourth to 12th. Fenati wasn’t out of it though as the top 13 were covered by less than two seconds with just three laps to go.

The lead was changing every lap as the slipstream effect came into play down the front straight, but it was Toba who led onto the final lap, with the Leopard Racing duo tucked in behind. The Japanese rider got his head down and suddenly, himself, Dalla Porta and Canet had forged a small gap to the following pack as it soon became a three-way fight for the win. Coming into Turn 16, Dalla Porta had the advantage but Toba used the slipstream to full effect, powering past his fellow Honda rider down the straight to take the chequered flag in P1, becoming the first Idemitsu Asia Talent Cup Champion to win a Grand Prix. Dalla Porta settled for P2, with Canet coming home third to give himself and Max Biaggi a podium in Qatar.

Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) managed to bring his Honda home in P4, with Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) crossing the line in fifth to get his rookie Moto3™ season off to a great start. Arenas, a contender for the win throughout, beat reigning Junior Moto3™ World Champion and teammate Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) to the line by 0.028 – 6th and 7th respectively for the duo.

2016 Qatar GP winner Antonelli was just 0.004 off Fernandez in P8, with Fenati salvaging P9 after looking odds on for at least a podium on his return. Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PrüstelGP) rounded out the top ten, less than a second from the win.

History made then in the opening race of the lightweight class season, with Toba becoming the first Japanese winner of a GP since Takaaki Nakagami won the 2017 Moto2™ British Grand Prix. What a race to kick start the season!

Top 10:
1. Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia)
2. Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) + 0.053
3. Aron Canet (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) + 0.174
4. Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing) + 0.505
5. Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.584
6. Albert Arenas (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) + 0.818
7. Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) + 0.846
8. Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 0.850
9. Romano Fenati (Snipers Team) + 0.890
10. Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PrüstelGP) + 0.903

Moto3 World Standing 2019

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Kaito TOBA	Honda	JPN	25
2	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	Honda	ITA	20
3	Aron CANET	KTM	SPA	16
4	Marcos RAMIREZ	Honda	SPA	13
5	Celestino VIETTI	KTM	ITA	11
6	Albert ARENAS	KTM	SPA	10
7	Raul FERNANDEZ	KTM	SPA	9
8	Niccolò ANTONELLI	Honda	ITA	8
9	Romano FENATI	Honda	ITA	7
10	Jakub KORNFEIL	KTM	CZE	6
11	Ai OGURA	Honda	JPN	5
12	Alonso LOPEZ	Honda	SPA	4
13	John MCPHEE	Honda	GBR	3
14	Andrea MIGNO	KTM	ITA	2
15	Gabriel RODRIGO	Honda	ARG	1
16	Tony ARBOLINO	Honda	ITA
17	Vicente PEREZ	KTM	SPA
18	Can ONCU	KTM	TUR
19	Kazuki MASAKI	KTM	JPN
20	Ryusei YAMANAKA	Honda	JPN
21	Filip SALAC	KTM	CZE
22	Riccardo ROSSI	Honda	ITA
23	Makar YURCHENKO	KTM	KAZ
24	Tom BOOTH-AMOS	KTM	GBR
25	Tatsuki SUZUKI		JPN
26	Dennis FOGGIA		ITA
27	Darryn BINDER		RSA
28	Ayumu SASAKI		JPN
29	Jaume MASIA		SPA

Moto3 Race Classification 2019

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	27	Kaito TOBA	JPN	Honda Team Asia	Honda	152.3	38’08.887
2	20	48	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	Leopard Racing	Honda	152.3	+0.053
3	16	44	Aron CANET	SPA	Sterilgarda Max Racing Team	KTM	152.3	+0.174
4	13	42	Marcos RAMIREZ	SPA	Leopard Racing	Honda	152.2	+0.505
5	11	13	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	KTM	152.2	+0.584
6	10	75	Albert ARENAS	SPA	Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team	KTM	152.2	+0.818
7	9	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	SPA	Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team	KTM	152.2	+0.846
8	8	23	Niccolò ANTONELLI	ITA	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	152.2	+0.850
9	7	55	Romano FENATI	ITA	Snipers Team	Honda	152.2	+0.890
10	6	84	Jakub KORNFEIL	CZE	Redox PruestelGP	KTM	152.2	+0.903
11	5	79	Ai OGURA	JPN	Honda Team Asia	Honda	152.2	+0.956
12	4	21	Alonso LOPEZ	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0	Honda	152.1	+1.755
13	3	17	John MCPHEE	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda	152.1	+1.849
14	2	16	Andrea MIGNO	ITA	Bester Capital Dubai	KTM	152.0	+3.450
15	1	19	Gabriel RODRIGO	ARG	Kommerling Gresini Moto3	Honda	152.0	+3.514
16		14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Snipers Team	Honda	152.0	+4.201
17		77	Vicente PEREZ	SPA	Reale Avintia Arizona 77	KTM	152.0	+4.267
18		61	Can ONCU	TUR	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	150.5	+26.272
19		22	Kazuki MASAKI	JPN	BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race	KTM	150.2	+31.779
20		6	Ryusei YAMANAKA	JPN	Estrella Galicia 0,0	Honda	150.2	+31.820
21		12	Filip SALAC	CZE	Redox PruestelGP	KTM	150.2	+31.943
22		54	Riccardo ROSSI	ITA	Kommerling Gresini Moto3	Honda	150.2	+31.979
23		76	Makar YURCHENKO	KAZ	BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race	KTM	146.9	+1’23.259
24		69	Tom BOOTH-AMOS	GBR	CIP Green Power	KTM	122.2	3 Laps
Not Classified
		24	Tatsuki SUZUKI	JPN	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	150.9	14 Laps
		7	Dennis FOGGIA	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	KTM	150.8	14 Laps
		40	Darryn BINDER	RSA	CIP Green Power	KTM	144.7	17 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
		71	Ayumu SASAKI	JPN	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda		0 Lap
		5	Jaume MASIA	SPA	Bester Capital Dubai	KTM		0 Lap

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of MotoGP.com

Moto3™ Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) creates history after Qatar GP race win .

_ds04719_0.video_list_3x

27-kaito-toba-jpn-48-lorenzo-della-porta_dsc0263.small

actiona6607dc1-78ac-4872-b74c-46745f4541ca300.small

Moto3 World Standing 2019

Moto3 Race Classification 2019

Check Out Our Instagram Feed

motorbugs

Check Out Our Facebook Feed

MotorBugs

Recent Motorbugs News