Sensational Sergio sublime in Portimao

April 28, 2022

Moto3 – Grande Premio Tissot De Portugal: Portimao. 24.4.2022

Qualification and the Grid:

We had crazy wet conditions for most of the qualifying session, with a lot of riders crashing out in the slippery conditions. An on form Deniz Oncu took pole with Mario Aji P2 and Lorenzo Fellon P3. Adrian Fernandez was a victim of the conditions, and could not race due to fractured fingers and John McPhee is still out with spinal fractures.

The Race:

A transformation in weather conditions meant the race was starting in the dry, a welcome situation for riders and spectators alike.

It was a sensational start for Deniz Oncu, he blasted away from the grid and actually managed to gap the other riders into turn one. The equally sensational Sergio Garcia came up from the second row and slotted into P2 behind Oncu, with Mario Aji in P3. Sergio Garcia did not take long before making a statement about his intentions for this race, he used the classic slipstream tactic to pass Oncu, with Izan Guevara now taking P3 from Mario Aji.

With fourteen laps to go the race pace had settled down with Sergio Garcia in the lead with a 0.958 gap over Izan Guevara in P2, Ayumu Sasaki in P3, and Deniz Oncu in P4, incredibly, Jaume Masia clawed his way to P5, having started in P15, Masia was on a mission, probably spurred on by his win last time, and soon overtook Oncu to take P4.

Twelve laps to go and with the front group now tightened up, Garcia was hauled in and lost the lead to Izan Guevara, with Sasaki, Masia and Oncu close by. From here on in it was a roller coaster, lap by lap a new leader, with Ayumu Sasaki, Sergio Garcia, and Jaume Masia all taking P1 over five laps.
Four laps to go and Sergio Garcia took back his lead from now Sasaki, Masia and Oncu behind, and then Guevara. It was an extremely tight group of five riders, any one of them could win, but fortune favours the bold. As they crossed the line for the last lap, Ayumu Sasaki was in the lead, by the next turn, Sergio Garcia had taken him, with another classic and well thought slip stream manoeuvre, seemingly unsettled Sasaki lost P2 to Jaume Masia. Sasaki now P3 with a feisty and determined poleman Oncu close by.

Over the line, it was Sergio Garcia, but only just, as Jaume Masia, Ayumu Sasaki and Deniz Oncu were oh so close. This was a well-judged and brilliant win for Garcia, and a well deserved P2 for Jaume Masia, having come from P15 on the grid.