Moto3™ – Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) capitalises on huge drama for first win.

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A flawless ride from Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) saw the Spaniard claim his maiden Moto3™ World Championship victory in an extraordinarily dramatic race at the Gran Premio de Europa. 2019 Valencia winner Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) picks up his first podium of the season in P3 as Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) grabs a podium to cut Albert Arenas’ (Valresa Aspar Team Moto3) Championship lead to just three points. The Spaniard was forced to retire after getting tangled up in an incident between Celestino Vietti (SKY Racing Team VR46) and Alonso Lopez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team).

As the lights went out the riders roared off the line and there was some slight contact between Lopez and Arenas, but the fastest off the line was Vietti as the Italian grabbed the holeshot. Polesitter John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) didn’t get a bad launch but the Scotsman was swamped in the first sector, with Vietti leading around the first lap. However, unbelievable title drama would unfold on Lap 2.

Coming out of Turn 4, Vietti got on the gas too quickly and he highsided. Just behind, Arenas did well to stay on but Lopez could do nothing and clattered into the back of the Spaniard’s KTM. Lopez went down with Vietti, the Italian managing to remount but the damage from Lopez hitting Arenas was incredibly costly for the latter. There was a problem with Arenas’ bike and at the end of the second lap, Arenas was forced to pull into pitlane. It was all hands on deck for the mechanics and Arenas was back out on track on Lap 6 of the race, but the chances of him finishing in the points were incredibly slim.

At the front, the drama had played into the hands of Fernandez. The KTM star had a two second lead over the chasing pack that was briefly led by Ogura, who was now in prime position to take the Championship lead off Arenas. By Lap 6 the gap for Fernandez was 2.7 seconds and just before that, McPhee crashed out at Turn 1 – title race over for the British rider?

Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) was spearheading the chasing pack and starting Lap 8, Fernandez’ gap was still 2.7 seconds. The Italian was right in title contention and knew that three contenders were either out or lapping right at the back – it was game on. Garcia was shadowing Arbolino in P3 with Ogura and Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) in hot pursuit, but they weren’t damaging Fernandez’ lead at this stage.

Then, yet another title hopeful crashed. After starting P28 and getting himself up to P16, Masia crashed out and the Spaniard limped away relatively unscathed. A situation then occurred where Arenas was back on track, a few laps down and mixing it the podium battle where Ogura and Arbolino were scrapping it out. After a lap, Arenas did drop back to behind fifth place Binder but then overtook the South African again. Arenas was getting the blue flags, meaning he needs to let the other riders through and then, unfortunately, the inevitable happened – black flag for Arenas on Lap 13 and his race was done as Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) took a long lap penalty from inside the top 10. Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) then crashed unhurt at Turn 2 after contact with Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3).

So, back to the lead and Fernandez was still over two seconds up the road from Arbolino, Ogura and Garcia, Binder was 1.3 seconds adrift of the podium fight with Carlos Tatay (Reale Avintia Moto3) just 1.3 seconds off Binder in P6. A crucial eight laps were coming up and Ogura knew that a P2 finish would see him take the Championship lead with two races remaining. At the same time, Arbolino knew that a P2 was crucial for his chances. Garcia was looking for his first podium of the season on a track he won at last season, Fernandez was 2.2 seconds up the road.

The gap was coming down. The three chasers were into the 1:39s and were quicker than Fernandez, the gap was now less than two seconds as Garcia didn’t fancy an overtake on Arbolino. The trio were boxing clever, Arbolino – with seven laps to go – had some serious pace and the last thing they needed to do was trip over each other. Ogura then made a move at Turn 1 though, the Japanese rider was up to P3 and the gap with six to go was 1.9 seconds.

Garcia bit back at Turn 6 and Ogura then grabbed P3 back as the duo started to scrap. Garcia was back into P3 at Turn 1 and the gap was now down to 1.7 between Fernandez and Arbolino. Four to go and Fernandez’ lead was still 1.7 seconds, Garcia in the slipstream couldn’t get past Arbolino and the Spaniard then lost P3 to Ogura, the latter back up into the podium positions while halfway around the lap, the gap was now 1.5 seconds. The chasing riders were really testing Fernandez heading onto the final three laps and it was almost disaster for Ogura through Turn 2. A big moment for the Honda rider as Garcia then pounced – a huge warning sign for Ogura.

Two to go. Fernandez was faster than the three behind him and the gap was back up to 1.7, it looked like the MotorLand podium man had this in the bag. Last lap time and the lead was 1.4 seconds as Arbolino had a huge twitch at Turn 1, Garcia was up the inside of the Italian and into P2. Garcia had nothing to lose, Arbolino and Ogura had everything to lose. Ogura picked Arbolino’s pocket at Turn 6 and Arbolino was now off the podium. Garcia had broken the two title contenders and the gap was down to a second, but it was too little too late.

Ogura went defensive at the final corner to cover Arbolino – and it worked. The chequered flag came out and fantastic Fernandez crossed the line to take his first Grand Prix victory by 0.7 seconds over Garcia. Ogura returned to the podium for the first time since the Emilia Romagna GP and in doing so, closes the gap to Arenas to just three points with three to play. Arbolino was second heading onto the last lap but ends P4, the Italian is now 23 points from the top of the Championship – a good day for all the top four.

Binder dropped off the podium battle and eventually took P5 – but only just. Tatay was just 0.032 off the South African as the 2019 Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup Champion claims his best Moto3™ result. Interestingly, the gap between the top five in Valencia was 13.392 seconds, whereas if you add together the gap between the top five in every races of 2020, the total is 6.845 seconds – an unusual but riveting lightweight class race.

Stefano Nepa (Valresa Aspar Team Moto3) led a huge gaggle of riders over the line to pick up a great P7, that’s a career-best for the Italian. Jeremy Alcoba (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3), Filip Salac (Rivacold Snipers Team) and Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3) rounded out the top 10.

Incredible drama in Moto3™ once again as four of the top six in the Championship score 0 points in Valencia. Arenas still leads the title race but his advantage is severely cut as five riders head into the final two races just 24 points apart. Vietti finished the race but it was a disaster for the 2021 Moto2™ competitor, but luckily, he’s still only 20 points away.

The lightweight class will do it all again at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in seven days’ time, what happens next Sunday is anyone’s guess.

Top 10:
1. Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
2. Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) + 0.703
3. Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) + 1.005
4. Tony Arbolino (Rivacold Snipers Team) + 1.037
5. Darryn Binder (CIP Green Power) + 13.392
6. Carlos Tatay (Reale Avintia Moto3) + 13.424
7. Stefano Nepa (Valresa Aspar Team Moto3) + 16.719
8. Jeremy Alcoba (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3) + 16.824
9. Filip Salac (Rivacold Snipers Team) + 16.964
10. Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 17.088.

GRAN PREMIO DE EUROPA

Moto3 Race Classification 20.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	25	Raul FERNANDEZ	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	143.6	38’29.140
2	20	11	Sergio GARCIA	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0	Honda	143.5	+0.703
3	16	79	Ai OGURA	JPN	Honda Team Asia	Honda	143.5	+1.005
4	13	14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Rivacold Snipers Team	Honda	143.5	+1.037
5	11	40	Darryn BINDER	RSA	CIP Green Power	KTM	142.7	+13.392
6	10	99	Carlos TATAY	SPA	Reale Avintia Moto3	KTM	142.7	+13.424
7	9	82	Stefano NEPA	ITA	Valresa Aspar Team Moto3	KTM	142.5	+16.719
8	8	52	Jeremy ALCOBA	SPA	Kömmerling Gresini Moto3	Honda	142.5	+16.824
9	7	12	Filip SALAC	CZE	Rivacold Snipers Team	Honda	142.5	+16.964
10	6	71	Ayumu SASAKI	JPN	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	142.5	+17.088
11	5	54	Riccardo ROSSI	ITA	BOE Skull Rider Facile Energy	KTM	142.5	+17.344
12	4	16	Andrea MIGNO	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	KTM	142.5	+17.467
13	3	55	Romano FENATI	ITA	Sterilgarda Max Racing Team	Husqvarna	142.5	+17.589
14	2	53	Deniz ÖNCÜ	TUR	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	142.4	+18.191
15	1	2	Gabriel RODRIGO	ARG	Kömmerling Gresini Moto3	Honda	142.4	+18.358
16		6	Ryusei YAMANAKA	JPN	Estrella Galicia 0,0	Honda	142.4	+18.441
17		92	Yuki KUNII	JPN	Honda Team Asia	Honda	142.4	+19.128
18		50	Jason DUPASQUIER	SWI	CarXpert PruestelGP	KTM	142.4	+19.583
19		9	Davide PIZZOLI	ITA	BOE Skull Rider Facile Energy	KTM	141.9	+27.457
20		70	Barry BALTUS	BEL	CarXpert PruestelGP	KTM	141.8	+27.836
21		73	Maximilian KOFLER	AUT	CIP Green Power	KTM	141.6	+31.328
22		89	Khairul Idham PAWI	MAL	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda	141.6	+31.661
23		13	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	KTM	138.7	+1’20.533
Not Classified
		23	Niccolò ANTONELLI	ITA	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	142.3	7 Laps
		27	Kaito TOBA	JPN	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	141.2	7 Laps
		24	Tatsuki SUZUKI	JPN	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	142.3	10 Laps
		7	Dennis FOGGIA	ITA	Leopard Racing	Honda	141.5	10 Laps
		5	Jaume MASIA	SPA	Leopard Racing	Honda	141.7	14 Laps
		17	John MCPHEE	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda	140.4	19 Laps
		21	Alonso LOPEZ	SPA	Sterilgarda Max Racing Team	Husqvarna	111.2	21 Laps
		75	Albert ARENAS	SPA	Valresa Aspar Team Moto3	KTM		0 Lap

Moto3 World Standing 2020

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Albert ARENAS	KTM	SPA	157
2	Ai OGURA	Honda	JPN	154
3	Celestino VIETTI	KTM	ITA	137
4	Tony ARBOLINO	Honda	ITA	134
5	Jaume MASIA	Honda	SPA	133
6	John MCPHEE	Honda	GBR	119
7	Raul FERNANDEZ	KTM	SPA	118
8	Darryn BINDER	KTM	RSA	101
9	Tatsuki SUZUKI	Honda	JPN	83
10	Gabriel RODRIGO	Honda	ARG	80
11	Romano FENATI	Husqvarna	ITA	73
12	Dennis FOGGIA	Honda	ITA	69
13	Jeremy ALCOBA	Honda	SPA	65
14	Sergio GARCIA	Honda	SPA	57
15	Andrea MIGNO	KTM	ITA	51
16	Ayumu SASAKI	KTM	JPN	49
17	Kaito TOBA	KTM	JPN	40
18	Stefano NEPA	KTM	ITA	35
19	Deniz ÖNCÜ	KTM	TUR	34
20	Niccolò ANTONELLI	Honda	ITA	33
21	Filip SALAC	Honda	CZE	30
22	Carlos TATAY	KTM	SPA	24
23	Alonso LOPEZ	Husqvarna	SPA	21
24	Ryusei YAMANAKA	Honda	JPN	13
25	Riccardo ROSSI	KTM	ITA	10
26	Barry BALTUS	KTM	BEL
27	Yuki KUNII	Honda	JPN
28	Jason DUPASQUIER	KTM	SWI
29	Davide PIZZOLI	KTM	ITA
30	Maximilian KOFLER	KTM	AUT
31	Khairul Idham PAWI	Honda	MAL
32	Dirk GEIGER	KTM	GER

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com

Moto3™ – Raul Fernandez (Red Bull KTM Ajo) capitalises on huge drama for first win.

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Moto3 World Standing 2020

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