Quali had thrown up an interesting grid for Moto3 with @m16no on pole, @24marcosramirez second and Andrea Migno teammate @jaumemasia5 third. The currently Mugen Racewear sponsored bikes of Migno and Masia will not be on the grid in 2020, as that team will disband after Valencia, which seems crazy, Masia though is heading off to the championship-winning team of Leopard for 2020.
From the outset, this race became, well shall we say fraught. Firstly @AronCanet44’s bike, shedding oil on the sighting lap, out came the detergent and the cement dust and a delay to the start. The riders were kept on the grid, and they were cold as Valencia was suffering from some usually more northerly type weather.
Then the start at last, with Marco Ramirez pushing into the lead from Andrea Migno. At turn four however Jaume Masia went down, Macaulay taking a nasty thump to his elbow, race over. So it was Ramirez, Migno and Filip Salac heading the field.
At lap three this crazy race just became even more so. Red flag, the race stopped, because of a horrific multi-bike crash. This took out Niccolo Antonelli, Carlos Tatay, Jeremy Alcoba, Makar Yurchenko and most affected Dennis Foggia, who was taken out by a bike sliding across the track in front of him. It was all very nasty and only Yurchenko was to get to start the “new” race.
A quick restart procedure was called and the race was to be only 15 laps. Original grid positions were in place but missing from slot three was Jaume Masia, declared unfit. A flying start for Marco Ramirez with Andrea Migno second and the oil spilling, race delaying Aron Cant third, you could not make it up, could you?
Soon it was Ramirez, Tatsuki Suzuki and Sergio Garcia. Lurking in 8th was Xavier Artigas, the wild card 16-year-old… watch this space.
With 12 laps to go, once again this race took a nasty turn with another multi-bike incident, this time World Champion Lorenzo Dalla Porta took a high side and with him down went Tony Arbolino, Alonso Lopez, John McPhee. You would be forgiven at this stage wondering how many riders would actually finish this race.
As the race settled it was Marco Ramirez, Tatsuki Suzuki and Sergio Garcia. Six laps to go and the 16-year-old Xavier Artigas was leading his first-ever Moto3 GP race with Migno second and Sergio Garcia third, this was the race of the young’uns for sure.
Last lap and Andrea Migno using all his experience to force it in to first, but the young’uns were having none of it with Garcia and Artigas throwing everything at it, so over the line and ever so close it was Sergio Garcia, Estrella Galicia 0.0 Honda, then Andrea Migno, Mugen Race KTM and the sensational Xavier Artigas, Leopard Impala Junior Team, Honda, third.
It was a shame that the class that has given us the best racing of the season, should end the year in such disarray, but as someone once said, that’s motor racing!
See you crazy guys in 2020….
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Author: Martin Northern
Founder of Bike Directory
