Moto3™ – Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) wins epic Moto3™ battle from pitlane.

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Finding the words to describe what happened in the Moto3™ Tissot Grand Prix of Doha encounter is hard. Very hard. It was an incredible battle from lights out to chequered flag but rightly stealing the headlines is wonder kid rookie Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo). Why? Well, the 16-year-old became the first Moto3™ rider to start from pitlane and win! A truly astonishing ride from the young Spaniard leaves everyone speechless as the number 37 beats Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) by 0.039s, with Niccolo Antonelli (Avintia Esponsorama Moto3) completing the podium.

So, for the second time in seven days, it was lights out in the desert for the Moto3™ riders and making the best start was Gabriel Rodrigo (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) from P3 on the grid, with Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) and Binder making electric getaways from the second row to claw themselves up to P2 and P3. Binder was wasting no time and was into the lead at Turn 4, polesitter Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was down to P4 but then found his way past Suzuki for P3 on the opening lap.

Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power) then led on Lap 2 but it was slipstream city down the 1km home straight every lap. Binder was back at the front briefly before Filip Salac (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Suzuki interchanged P1 on Lap 4, with the pitlane starters still six seconds adrift of 21st place Xavier Artigas (Leopard Racing) – the latter taking his two long-lap penalties.

The Moto3™ script was the same as always as we entered Lap 7: constant fairing bashing, awe-inspiring racing. Leading now was Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) from Toba and Masia, with rookie Adrian Fernandez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) getting properly stuck in. Further back, the pitlane starters of Acosta, Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team), Sergio Garcia (GASGAS Gaviota Aspar) and Stefano Nepa (BOE Owlride) were now starting to penetrate the top 20, just over six seconds off the fight for the race win. There was 10 laps to go now in Doha, 1.5 seconds split 18 riders. Outrageous.

After leading across the line, Binder was squeezed out at Turn 1 as he and teammate John McPhee got a bit close for comfort. The South African suddenly down to P14, with Jeremy Alcoba (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3) now the new race leader. Like he was last Sunday, Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3) was in the thick of it and briefly led but watching the riders go – genuinely – 10 abreast into Turn 1 was frightening stuff. Remember Binder? Two minutes later, he was back up to fifth – slipstream effect in full flow.

Artigas was the first crasher with seven to go after contact with Carlos Tatay (Avintia Esponsorama Moto3) with Acosta and Garcia now tagged onto the back of the leaders. Salac, with six to go, was then down and out after a great race – a real shame for the Czech rider who got a bit of helping hand from Sasaki. Now, with five to go, the top 21 were covered by 1.6 seconds. 1.6 seconds!

Drama then unfolded at Turn 1 between two race leaders. Alcoba and McPhee were down at Turn 1, Alcoba tagged the back of Binder and left McPhee with nowhere to go, the latter got a face full of Honda and both were out of the race. Later, at Turn 6, Tatay and Adrian Fernandez were down too.

In the aftermath, Masia now led from Migno and Binder, as Acosta found himself inside the top five – sensational work from the rookie. The gap between the leading quintet – Rodrigo, Masia, Binder, Acosta and Migno – was over half a second to Antonelli, but the latter did amazingly to bridge the gap.

And heading onto the last lap, Acosta had clawed his way to the front. The rookie sensation took the initiative and started pulling clear of second place Binder as Masia at fourth. The latter shoved it up the inside of Antonelli at Turn 6 but both ran wide, allowing Rodrigo through. Meanwhile, Acosta was setting the fastest lap of the race with Binder the only one able to stick with the wonder kid on the last lap, with Masia then coming into contact with Rodrigo at Turn 10. A late lunge didn’t work and the Qatar race winner, along with Rodrigo, was wide to allow Antonelli back through.

However, it was now all about Acosta vs Binder. An absolutely pitch-perfect last lap from the Spaniard all came down to the run to the line. Binder was in touch and had a chance of snatching the 25 points at the death, but Acosta held on by just 0.039s to claim his first Moto3™ victory. Something like this doesn’t happen very often and it’s genuinely of the greatest riders in Grand Prix history. Pitlane to P1 – take a bow Pedro Acosta.

Binder picks up his second consecutive podium at Losail in another magnificent ride from the number 40 as Antonelli return to the podium for the first time since winning the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix. Migno and Toba completed a top five covered by just 0.651s as Izan Guevara (GASGAS Gaviota Aspar) recovered from a huge Warm Up crash to claim P6, a great start to his rookie campaign. Sasaki was a second behind Guevara in P7 as he and Masia make contact on the exit of Turn 10, but the Japanese rider returns to the points after his last lap crash in Qatar.

Ryusei Yamanaka (CarXpert PrüstelGP) finished P8 to secure his best Grand Prix finish, the Japanese rider beat Masia to the line by 0.018s as the former Championship leader endures a tough final lap. 10th went the way of Fenati, a great ride from pitlane, with Jason Dupasquier (CarXpert PrüstelGP) grabs back-to-back points finishes. Suzuki ended P12 ahead of the unfortunate Rodrigo who got shoved off track by Masia on the last lap, Maximilian Kofler (CIP Green Power) and Yuki Kunii (Honda Team Asia) completed the points – 2.260 seconds is the gap between P1 and P15.

Another breath-taking display in Moto3™. Acosta’s ride will be remembered for some time and the rookie now leads the Championship after a P2 and P1 to begin his Grand Prix career. Extraordinary. Binder also bags two podiums to begin the 2021 campaign with as Masia slips to P3 in the overall standings, with a weekend off now awaiting us ahead of the Portuguese Grand Prix.

Top 10:
1. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2. Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 0.039
3. Niccolo Antonelli (Reale Avintia Moto3) + 0.482
4. Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) + 0.514
5. Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power) + 0.651
6. Izan Guevara (GasGas Gaviota Aspar) + 0.708
7. Ayumu Sasaki (Tech3 KTM Racing) + 1.805
8. Ryusei Yamanaka (CarXpert PrüstelGP) + 1.857
9. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 1.875
10. Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) + 1.967.

TISSOT GRAND PRIX OF DOHA

Moto3 Race Classification 2021.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	37	Pedro ACOSTA	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	151.4	38’22.430
2	20	40	Darryn BINDER	RSA	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda	151.4	+0.039
3	16	23	Niccolò ANTONELLI	ITA	Avintia Esponsorama Moto3	KTM	151.3	+0.482
4	13	16	Andrea MIGNO	ITA	Rivacold Snipers Team	Honda	151.3	+0.514
5	11	27	Kaito TOBA	JPN	CIP Green Power	KTM	151.3	+0.651
6	10	28	Izan GUEVARA	SPA	GASGAS Gaviota Aspar Team	GASGAS	151.3	+0.708
7	9	71	Ayumu SASAKI	JPN	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	151.2	+1.805
8	8	6	Ryusei YAMANAKA	JPN	CarXpert PruestelGP	KTM	151.2	+1.857
9	7	5	Jaume MASIA	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	151.2	+1.875
10	6	55	Romano FENATI	ITA	Sterilgarda Max Racing Team	Husqvarna	151.2	+1.967
11	5	50	Jason DUPASQUIER	SWI	CarXpert PruestelGP	KTM	151.2	+1.994
12	4	24	Tatsuki SUZUKI	JPN	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	151.2	+2.234
13	3	2	Gabriel RODRIGO	ARG	Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3	Honda	151.2	+2.235
14	2	73	Maximilian KOFLER	AUT	CIP Green Power	KTM	151.2	+2.249
15	1	92	Yuki KUNII	JPN	Honda Team Asia	Honda	151.2	+2.260
16		82	Stefano NEPA	ITA	BOE Owlride	KTM	151.0	+5.359
17		7	Dennis FOGGIA	ITA	Leopard Racing	Honda	150.6	+11.052
18		53	Deniz ÖNCÜ	TUR	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	150.6	+11.085
19		54	Riccardo ROSSI	ITA	BOE Owlride	KTM	150.3	+15.996
20		20	Lorenzo FELLON	FRA	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	150.2	+17.130
21		99	Carlos TATAY	SPA	Avintia Esponsorama Moto3	KTM	150.2	+18.480
22		19	Andi Farid IZDIHAR	INA	Honda Team Asia	Honda	149.7	+25.872
23		11	Sergio GARCIA	SPA	GASGAS Gaviota Aspar Team	GASGAS	148.7	+41.914
Not Classified
		17	John MCPHEE	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda	151.1	4 Laps
		52	Jeremy ALCOBA	SPA	Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3	Honda	151.1	4 Laps
		31	Adrian FERNANDEZ	SPA	Sterilgarda Max Racing Team	Husqvarna	151.0	4 Laps
		12	Filip SALAC	CZE	Rivacold Snipers Team	Honda	151.0	6 Laps
		43	Xavier ARTIGAS	SPA	Leopard Racing	Honda	151.0	7 Laps

Moto3 World Standing 2021

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Pedro ACOSTA	KTM	SPA	45
2	Darryn BINDER	Honda	RSA	36
3	Jaume MASIA	KTM	SPA	32
4	Niccolò ANTONELLI	KTM	ITA	26
5	Izan GUEVARA	GASGAS	SPA	19
6	Kaito TOBA	KTM	JPN	18
7	Gabriel RODRIGO	Honda	ARG	14
8	Sergio GARCIA	GASGAS	SPA	13
9	Andrea MIGNO	Honda	ITA	13
10	Tatsuki SUZUKI	Honda	JPN	12
11	Romano FENATI	Husqvarna	ITA	11
12	Jason DUPASQUIER	KTM	SWI	11
13	Ryusei YAMANAKA	KTM	JPN	10
14	Ayumu SASAKI	KTM	JPN	9
15	Carlos TATAY	KTM	SPA	4
16	Filip SALAC	Honda	CZE	3
17	Maximilian KOFLER	KTM	AUT	3
18	Yuki KUNII	Honda	JPN	1
19	Stefano NEPA	KTM	ITA
20	Adrian FERNANDEZ	Husqvarna	SPA
21	Dennis FOGGIA	Honda	ITA
22	Deniz ÖNCÜ	KTM	TUR
23	Lorenzo FELLON	Honda	FRA
24	Riccardo ROSSI	KTM	ITA
25	Andi Farid IZDIHAR	Honda	INA
26	John MCPHEE		GBR
27	Jeremy ALCOBA		SPA
28	Xavier ARTIGAS		SPA

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com

Moto3™ – Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) wins epic Moto3™ battle from pitlane.

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TISSOT GRAND PRIX OF DOHA

Moto3 World Standing 2021

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