Qualifying:
A fresh look for quali at Barcelona saw Gabriel Rodrigo on pole with Jeremy Alcoba P2 and Niccolo Antonelli P3. The rookie sensation, Pedro Acosta, who has pulled off some incredible race wins but only 7th in Mugello, found himself in P25!
The Race:
A blistering start for Gabriel Rodrigo saw him lead Niccolo Antonelli and Jeremy Alcoba on the first lap with a train of screaming Moto3 bikes behind them. Soon though, slipstreaming started to play its part in this race as rookie Izan Guevara on his GASGAS bike took the lead, he even gapped the train for a while until they hit the straight and then it was Darryn Binder who took P1, with teammate John McPhee P2. Acosta had made his way from 25th to 18th in those few opening laps.
Fourteen laps to go and McPhee lost his lead to Jeremy Alcoba P1 and Sergio Garcia P2, Garcia looking fast and controlled in the bunch of riders which is the current hallmark of Moto3. Pedro Acosta had threaded his way through the field to 9th. Soon it was Jeremy Alcona in the lead, then Izan Guevara and once again McPhee hit the front. It’s a good thing to have transponders and electronic timing, if you had to lap chart these races, you would have run out of pencil and eraser by now.
So, it was John McPhee in the lead with 12 laps to go and then bang, McPhee hit the deck, crashing out, his bike spewing onto the race track with Andrea Migno and Tatsuki Suzuki taking avoiding action but both also crashing out of the race, skill and luck avoiding what could have been a much nastier incident. This left Izan Guevara and then suddenly Pedro Acosta in P1, having made his way up from P25!, just incredible! The way of this race though was constant change and by 10 laps to go it was Deniz Oncu in the lead with Roman Fenati P2 and Darryn Binder P3, Acosta now back in P7. There were multiple changes for P1 including Pedro Acosta, Gabriel Rodrigo and Jeremy Alcoba, over the next few laps, such was the tight bunching of bikes in this crazy class.
Two laps to go and it was Jeremy Alcoba P1, Pedro Acosta P2, Darryn Binder P3 and a steady Sergio Garcia in P4. Then came the last lap, and what an insane lap it was, with fourteen bikes with mostly teenage riders backing off and bunching up, no one wanting to lead into the first corner off the straight, as slipstreaming had played such a huge part in positioning. From these tactics it was Jaume Masia who came out in P1, Izan Guevara P2 and our steady man Sergio Garcia P3.
The last lap was even crazier when Izan Guevara dropped it right inside the bunch, thankfully not taking anyone with him. This left Sergio Garcia in the lead with Jeremy Alcoba P2 and Jaume Masia P3, Deniz Oncu P4. We thought it was all over but soon learnt that Jaume Masia had a penalty for exceeding track limits on the last lap, and that pushed him off the podium.
Results:
Sergio Garcia Solunion GASGAS Aspar Team P1, Jeremy Alcoba Indonesian Racing Gresini Moto3, P2 and Deniz Oncu, Red Bull KTM Tech3, P3. The luckless Jaume Masia home alone in P4. In a previous report, we said we like Deniz, he’s a nice kid, and he showed how much racing means to him with an open display of emotion in parc ferme, great to see, and hopefully, this race will give him a step up to show just how good he is, after a shaky start to the season. Pedro Acosta finished 7th but still leads the championship by 39 points over Sergio Garcia, he probably needs to steady himself at this time in the season, but we are sure he will be back at the front soon, after all, he did lead this race a couple of times.
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Author: Martin Northern
Founder of Bike Directory
