Moto3™ – Sergio Garcia (Santander Consumer GASGAS) unveils last lap thriller to pip Öncü in Austria.

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An exhilarating last lap from Sergio Garcia (Santander Consumer GASGAS) handed the Aspar star a third Moto3™ victory of the season in a classic lightweight class fight at the Bitci Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) lost out at the penultimate corner but takes his second Grand Prix podium, with Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) taking a fantastic P3.

Polesitter Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) got an inch-perfect getaway as the lights went out and comfortably held P1 into Turn 1, with Öncü making a great start from the second row to grab P2. The Turkish rider didn’t take long to turn P2 into P1, Turn 4 the chosen passing place as Öncü took the lead on Lap 1. Acosta wasted no time in making his way to the front, the Spaniard taking the lead at the start of Lap 3, with second in the Championship Garcia also climbing his way through the pack expertly from 14th on the grid to the top five.

Öncü, Fenati and Acosta stood as the top three for a number of laps in the opening exchanges, as we saw top 10 competitors Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) tagging Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech3) at the final corner on Lap 6, the latter crashing out of contention unhurt. A lead group of six then formed, Garcia, Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Foggia joining the aforementioned trio, with Petronas Sprinta Racing’s Binder and John McPhee sat a second adrift.

The Petronas duo breached the gap with 10 laps to go, which meant we had a lead group of eight fighting for victory in Austria. Öncü was a mainstay in the lad of the race and with eight laps to go, the Turkish rider had eked a slight lead. Typically, though, Acosta and co. reeled Öncü back in, and it was starting to get busy. Acosta and Fenati made slight on the exit of Turn 4 with six laps to go, as Binder and McPhee lost touch.

At Turn 3 with three to go, Garcia got two for the price of one. The Spaniard took the lead as Acosta followed him through on Öncü, with Acosta then taking the lead at Turn 4. However, a stunning run out of Turn 8 saw Öncü return to P1 heading onto Lap 22 of 23. Last lap, Öncü led onto it with Acosta right behind him. The latter was up the inside at Turn 3 but Öncü got the cutback, as Garcia then passed title rival Acosta at Turn 4, which cost the Championship leader dearly.

Garcia then locked his radar onto race leader Öncü and chose Turn 9 as the place to pounce. Up the inside went Garcia, Öncü could do nothing to fight back as Garcia held the defensive line into the final corner. The GASGAS rider managed to hold his advantage to the line and claim victory at the Red Bull Ring by 0.027s, with Foggia getting the better of Acosta on the last lap to demote the number 37 to P4.

Fenati finished less than half a second from the win and takes home a P5 for his efforts, another great race from the experienced Italian, who edged out Masia on the last lap. McPhee claimed a commendable P7 ahead of a late charging Izan Guevara (Santander Consumer GASGAS). Binder faded in the latter stages to claim P9, as Japan’s Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power) rounded out the top 10.

Compatriot Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) was less than a second away from Toba in P11, with Filip Salac (CarXpert PrüstelGP) beating Stefano Nepa (BOE Owlride) to P12. Six seconds behind 13th place Nepa was Jeremy Alcoba (Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3), the Spaniard leading home Andi Farid Izdihar (Honda Team Asia) in 15th.

Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers Team) crashed out at the final corner on the opening lap after contact with teammate David Salvador, Adrian Fernandez (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) retired from the Austrian GP.

A third win of the season and a third podium on the bounce sees Garcia close the gap to Acosta down to 41 points ahead of Silverstone, the battle between the two Spaniards is well and truly on in 2021. A weekend off now awaits for the Moto3™ field as they recover from a Red Bull Ring double header, while setting sights on Silverstone. What does the legendary layout have in store at the end of the month?

Top 10:
1. Sergio Garcia (Santander Consumer GASGAS)
2. Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 0.027
3. Denis Foggia (Leopard Racing) + 0.319
4. Pedro Acosta (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.394
5. Romano Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team) + 0.462
6. Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 0.794
7. John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 1.331
8. Izan Guevara (Santander Consumer GASGAS) + 1.440
9. Darryn Binder (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 2.339
10. Kaito Toba (CIP Green Power) + 6.135.

BITCI MOTORRAD GRAND PRIX VON ÖSTERREICH

Moto3 Race Classification 2021

Spielberg, Sunday, August 15, 2021

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	11	Sergio GARCIA	SPA	SANTANDER Consumer GASGAS	GASGAS	160.3	37’10.345
2	20	53	Deniz ÖNCÜ	TUR	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	160.3	+0.027
3	16	7	Dennis FOGGIA	ITA	Leopard Racing	Honda	160.2	+0.346
4	13	37	Pedro ACOSTA	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	160.2	+0.394
5	11	55	Romano FENATI	ITA	Sterilgarda Max Racing Team	Husqvarna	160.2	+0.462
6	10	5	Jaume MASIA	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	160.2	+0.794
7	9	17	John MCPHEE	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda	160.2	+1.331
8	8	28	Izan GUEVARA	SPA	SANTANDER Consumer GASGAS	GASGAS	160.1	+1.440
9	7	40	Darryn BINDER	RSA	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda	160.1	+2.399
10	6	27	Kaito TOBA	JPN	CIP Green Power	KTM	159.8	+6.135
11	5	24	Tatsuki SUZUKI	JPN	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	159.8	+6.602
12	4	12	Filip SALAC	CZE	CarXpert PruestelGP	KTM	159.2	+14.716
13	3	82	Stefano NEPA	ITA	BOE Owlride	KTM	159.2	+14.920
14	2	52	Jeremy ALCOBA	SPA	Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3	Honda	158.7	+21.668
15	1	19	Andi Farid IZDIHAR	INA	Honda Team Asia	Honda	158.7	+21.976
16		99	Carlos TATAY	SPA	Avintia Esponsorama Moto3	KTM	158.7	+22.147
17		20	Lorenzo FELLON	FRA	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	158.7	+22.161
18		92	Yuki KUNII	JPN	Honda Team Asia	Honda	158.7	+22.198
19		54	Riccardo ROSSI	ITA	BOE Owlride	KTM	158.7	+22.363
20		2	Gabriel RODRIGO	ARG	Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3	Honda	158.5	+24.454
21		38	David SALVADOR	SPA	Rivacold Snipers Team	Honda	158.5	+24.706
22		73	Maximilian KOFLER	AUT	CIP Green Power	KTM	158.7	+25.129
23		22	Elia BARTOLINI	ITA	Avintia VR46	KTM	157.8	+34.520
Not Classified
		31	Adrian FERNANDEZ	SPA	Sterilgarda Max Racing Team	Husqvarna	156.9	12 Laps
		71	Ayumu SASAKI	JPN	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	158.6	18 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
		16	Andrea MIGNO	ITA	Rivacold Snipers Team	Honda		0 Lap

Moto3 World Standing 2021

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Pedro ACOSTA	KTM	SPA	196
2	Sergio GARCIA	GASGAS	SPA	155
3	Romano FENATI	Husqvarna	ITA	107
4	Dennis FOGGIA	Honda	ITA	102
5	Jaume MASIA	KTM	SPA	95
6	Darryn BINDER	Honda	RSA	86
7	Ayumu SASAKI	KTM	JPN	68
8	Niccolò ANTONELLI	KTM	ITA	67
9	Kaito TOBA	KTM	JPN	62
10	Jeremy ALCOBA	Honda	SPA	60
11	Gabriel RODRIGO	Honda	ARG	59
12	Andrea MIGNO	Honda	ITA	58
13	John MCPHEE	Honda	GBR	49
14	Izan GUEVARA	GASGAS	SPA	46
15	Deniz ÖNCÜ	KTM	TUR	45
16	Filip SALAC	KTM	CZE	44
17	Tatsuki SUZUKI	Honda	JPN	43
18	Ryusei YAMANAKA	KTM	JPN	37
19	Xavier ARTIGAS	Honda	SPA	30
20	Jason DUPASQUIER	KTM	SWI	27
21	Stefano NEPA	KTM	ITA	22
22	Riccardo ROSSI	KTM	ITA	16
23	Adrian FERNANDEZ	Husqvarna	SPA	16
24	Yuki KUNII	Honda	JPN	15
25	Carlos TATAY	KTM	SPA	14
26	Maximilian KOFLER	KTM	AUT	10
27	Elia BARTOLINI	KTM	ITA	7
28	Andi Farid IZDIHAR	Honda	INA	3
29	Daniel HOLGADO	KTM	SPA	1
30	Lorenzo FELLON	Honda	FRA
31	Joel KELSO	KTM	AUS
32	Takuma MATSUYAMA	Honda	JPN
33	Alberto SURRA	Honda	ITA
34	David SALVADOR	Honda	SPA

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com