2023-11-19 15:06:39
Jaume Masià had his first match point in the 2023 Moto3 title fight at the Qatar GP from 10th place on the grid. His big opponent Ayumu Sasaki (Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP) had a slightly better starting position with 4th place on the grid, but the two soon met on the track and fought a sometimes aggressive fight in the large leading group over long stretches of a real Moto3 classic.
The outcome was uncertain for a long time, but the preliminary decision was made on the 14th of 16 laps when Masià established himself at the lead and Sasaki lost touch in a few corners. However, it remained exciting until the last few meters, when the Japanese missed the last chance to postpone the World Cup decision after a violent moment of shock.
In addition to world champion Masià, GASGAS-Aspar ace David Alonso and Deniz Öncü completed the podium, although the Red Bull-KTM-Ajo rider had to take the long lap loop twice after an early start.
This is how the race went:
Start: Deniz Öncü takes the lead ahead of pole setter Dani Holgado and Ayumu Sasaki. However, Öncü made a premature start, which is why he received a double long lap penalty.
2nd lap: Öncü turns into the long lap for the first time and falls back to 17th place. Sasaki takes the lead ahead of Moreira, Holgado, Masià, Alonso, Ortolá, Kelso, Veijer, Muñoz and Perez.
3rd lap: Things are getting hot between title rivals Masià and Sasaki, the Leopard Honda rider pushes the Husqvarna rider wide in turn 6 – and they fall from the lead to 5th (Masià) and 8th (Sasaki). . After his second long lap, Deniz Öncü is only in 25th place (+ 4 seconds).
4th lap: Holgado leads from Ortolá, Moreira, Masià, Sasaki, Alonso and Muñoz. Farioli falls, Rueda gets a double long lap penalty for the incident.
5th lap: Masià storms forward at the start-finish, but in turn 1 Holgado holds on to first place, which he also defends against Ortolá, including contact. The leading group is still large, with 16 riders lying around two seconds apart.
6th lap: From start to finish, the slipstream battle is repeated lap after lap, this time Ortolá takes the lead. Sasaki resolutely moves ahead of Masià in second place, but he counters in turn 15.
7th lap: Sasaki takes the lead from start to finish, but in turn 6 Masià pushes Sasaki far out for a second time! The Husqvarna rider now falls back to 10th place. The stewards send Masià a behavioral warning on the dashboard. Apart from the duel between the World Championship rivals, things are going haywire in the leading group: Kelso goes wide in the first corner and falls back from P5 to P13. Moreira crashes in turn 15, Ortolá receives a double long lap penalty for irresponsible driving.
8th lap: Holgado leads, Sasaki takes revenge on Masià and is back in second place.
9th lap: Sasaki replaces Holgado at the top. Masià, Alonso and Muñoz follow closely behind.
10th lap: The classification is shuffled again from start to finish: Holgado back to P1, Masià in second again ahead of Sasaki. Ortolá completes the first long lap and falls out of the points from P7. This leaves a small gap after the top six (Holgado, Sasaki, Alonso, Masià, Muñoz and Veijer). Masia’s teammate Adrian Fernández is fighting to stay in the leading group.
11th lap: Behind Holgado, Sasaki and Masià overtake each other several times – this time cleanly despite slight contact, but the Leopard Honda driver still gives a quick hand signal. The pace slows down and the group gets bigger again.
12th lap: With five laps to go, the top 15 – still led by Holgado – are separated by just two seconds.
13th lap: Masià takes the lead, Sasaki takes second place – and there are the next duels between the title rivals, who are not afraid to take risks.
14th lap: The preliminary decision is made: While Masià leads, Sasaki falls back to 10th place. He went into the first corner as the leader!
15th lap: Masià leads ahead of Holgado, Alonso, Riccardo Rossi and Deniz Öncü, behind him a gap of almost a second has opened up to Perez. Sasaki in P7.
Last lap: Masià goes into the last lap as the leader and doesn’t let anything go wrong. Behind them, Rossi and Alonso go a little wide in Turn 1, which means Öncü briefly takes second place, but then loses it again to Alonso. Sasaki tries everything, passes Holgado to 5th place, but then has an almost highsider and falls back to 6th place.
Result Moto3 race, Doha (19.11.):
1. Masià, Honda, 16 Rdn in 33:50,694 min
2. Alonso, GASGAS, + 0.068 sec
3. Deniz Öncü, KTM, + 0.163
4. Riccardo Rossi, Honda, +0.285
5. Perez, KTM, +1,553
6. Sasaki, Husqvarna, +1,566
7. Bertelle, Honda, +1,725
8. Toba, Honda, + 1,846
9. Baggy, KTM, +1,943
10. Veijer, Husqvarna, + 2,019
11. Fenati, Honda, +3,634
12. Munoz, KTM, + 4,003
13. Kelso, CFMOTO, + 4,060
14. Furusato, Honda, + 4,166
15. Ortola, KTM, + 4,228
Moto3 World Championship standings after 19 of 20 races:
1. Masià, 271 Punkte (Weltmeister). 2. Sasaki 243. 3. Alonso 225. 4. Holgado 212. 5. Öncü 212. 6. Ortolá 171. 7. Veijer 136. 8. Moreira 131. 9. Rueda 111. 10. Muñoz 106. 11. Toba 105. 12. Nepa 101. 13. R. Rossi 79. 14. Yamanaka 78. 15. Artigas 77. 16. Furusato 58. 17. Bertelle 57. 18. Kelso 52. 19. Suzuki 50. 20. Fenati 35. 21. Salvador 31. 22. Odgen 24. 23. Adrián Fernández 23. 24. Migno 17. 25. Perez 15. 26. Farioli 15. 27. Fellon 6. 28. Azman 5. 29. Carraro 5. 30. Whatley 4. 31. Chili 4.
Constructors’ World Championship:
1. KTM, 378 points (world champion). 2. Honda 322. 3. Husqvarna 282. 4. GASGAS 250. 5. CFMOTO 104.
Team World Cup:
1. Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP, 379 Punkte. 2. Leopard Racing 344. 3. Red Bull KTM Ajo 323. 4. Gaviota GASGAS Aspar Team 303. 5. Angeluss MTA Team 272. 6. Red Bull KTM Tech3, 227. 7. SIC58 Squadra Corse 184. 8. MTHelmets-MSi 136. 9. CFMOTO Racing PrüstelGP 129. 10. BOE Motorsports 121. 11. Rivacold Snipers Team 97. 12. Honda Team Asia 62. 13. CIP Green Power 54. 14. Vision Track Racing Team 29.
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