#ValenciaGP, Sergio Garcia holds off Migno for just 0.005, Xavi Artigas makes history
A crazy race in Moto3 with a lot of crashes and a red flag that interrupted the race; Sergio Garcia was then the most brave on track with a stunning last corner move on Andrea Migno to take the win, while Leopard Wild Card Xavi Artigas made history behind them
Moto3 race started with a little drama as long as it should be delayed of 10 minutes due to a technical problem suffered by Aron Canet who crashed during sighting lap releasing oil to the track that made also Ayumu Sasaki falling. That meant track was not safe and marshals had to do their best to make again the track safe but at the same time they need time and that forced Race Direction to delay the start.
Race was even interrupted again after 3 laps due to a multiple incidents at turn 11; Carlos Tatay lost control of his bike, with Jeremy Alcoba, Makar Turchenko and Niccolò Antonelli who hit him, but Carlos’ bike came back to the track and Dennis Foggia could not avoid that crashing in a really bad way. Foggia’s bike went into flame and the rider stayed on track, which forced a red flag. Thankfully, everyone was conscious, but surely Foggia is not totally okay and was transferred into Hospital. Also Jaume Masia crashed in the early stages of the race, just in the first lap and could restart but had some pain and was declared unfit. Same destiny for Niccolò Antonelli, who tried to restart but suffered too much pain on his shoulder to come back on track.
Second start saw Marcos Ramirez trying to lead the race and he was able to for a bunch of laps, while behind him it was pretty much an elimination race, with Albert Arenas falling down and also World Champion Lorenzo Dalla Porta; Leopard rider lost grip at the exit of turn 4 and involved Tony Arbolino, Alonso Lopez and John McPhee. A few laps later, also Raul Fernandez crashed out of the race.
Meanwhile, it was Leopard Wild Card Xavi Artigas to shine; the Spaniard closed the gap on the group fighting for the victory first, but then took the lead and created a little gap on the others, a really impressive job for a debut race! The group for the win was so close to him, Andrea Migno, Sergio Garcia and Tatsuki Suzuki who battled until last lap.
Artigas initially went wide during the final laps losing the lead and that meant the battle for the win was just a contention between Andrea Migno and Sergio Garcia, who made a lot of moves in the last lap with a lot of overtakes. The decisive one was made by the Spaniard at last corner, with Estrella Galicia 0,0 rider who made an amazing move on the Italian who tried to take the slipstream but lost the win for just 0.005s! Behind them, Artigas and Suzuki fought for last podium position, with the Wild Card who dived the inside at last corner too being successful for an historical 3rd position in his debut race in the World Championship!
Pos. | Punti | Num. | Pilota | Nazione | Team | Moto | Km/h | Data e ora/Distanza |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 | 11 | Sergio GARCIA | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda | 142.4 | 25'17.918 |
2 | 20 | 16 | Andrea MIGNO | ITA | Mugen Race | KTM | 142.4 | +0.005 |
3 | 16 | 4 | Xavier ARTIGAS | SPA | Leopard Impala Junior Team | Honda | 142.4 | +0.180 |
4 | 13 | 24 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | JPN | SIC58 Squadra Corse | Honda | 142.4 | +0.246 |
5 | 11 | 12 | Filip SALAC | CZE | Redox PruestelGP | KTM | 142.4 | +0.328 |
6 | 10 | 44 | Aron CANET | SPA | Sterilgarda Max Racing Team | KTM | 142.1 | +3.016 |
7 | 9 | 42 | Marcos RAMIREZ | SPA | Leopard Racing | Honda | 142.1 | +3.032 |
8 | 8 | 13 | Celestino VIETTI | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM | 141.5 | +9.666 |
9 | 7 | 76 | Makar YURCHENKO | KAZ | BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race | KTM | 141.5 | +9.747 |
10 | 6 | 79 | Ai OGURA | JPN | Honda Team Asia | Honda | 141.5 | +9.859 |
11 | 5 | 82 | Stefano NEPA | ITA | Reale Avintia Arizona 77 | KTM | 141.5 | +9.975 |
12 | 4 | 61 | Can ONCU | TUR | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 141.5 | +10.223 |
13 | 3 | 27 | Kaito TOBA | JPN | Honda Team Asia | Honda | 141.4 | +10.537 |
14 | 2 | 54 | Riccardo ROSSI | ITA | Kömmerling Gresini Moto3 | Honda | 141.4 | +10.712 |
15 | 1 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | CZE | Redox PruestelGP | KTM | 141.2 | +12.661 |
16 | 22 | Kazuki MASAKI | JPN | BOE Skull Rider Mugen Race | KTM | 141.1 | +14.116 | |
17 | 55 | Romano FENATI | ITA | VNE Snipers | Honda | 140.8 | +17.669 | |
18 | 69 | Tom BOOTH-AMOS | GBR | CIP Green Power | KTM | 139.6 | +31.008 | |
19 | 71 | Ayumu SASAKI | JPN | Petronas Sprinta Racing | Honda | 138.4 | +43.939 | |
20 | 75 | Albert ARENAS | SPA | Valresa Angel Nieto Team | KTM | 132.6 | 1 Giro | |
21 | 48 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | ITA | Leopard Racing | Honda | 107.5 | 3 Giri | |
21 | Alonso LOPEZ | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda | 85.0 | 6 Giri | ||
Non classificato | ||||||||
25 | Raul FERNANDEZ | SPA | Valresa Angel Nieto Team | KTM | 134.2 | 9 Giri | ||
14 | Tony ARBOLINO | ITA | VNE Snipers | Honda | 138.9 | 12 Giri | ||
17 | John MCPHEE | GBR | Petronas Sprinta Racing | Honda | 138.8 | 12 Giri | ||
40 | Darryn BINDER | RSA | CIP Green Power | KTM | 129.9 | 13 Giri | ||
Non al via | ||||||||
5 | Jaume MASIA | SPA | Mugen Race | KTM | 0 Giro | |||
99 | Carlos TATAY | SPA | Fundacion Andreas Perez 77 | KTM | 0 Giro | |||
23 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | ITA | SIC58 Squadra Corse | Honda | 0 Giro | |||
52 | Jeremy ALCOBA | SPA | Kömmerling Gresini Moto3 | Honda | 0 Giro | |||
7 | Dennis FOGGIA | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM | 0 Giro |