Moto3 Jerez 1 Race: Sprint victory for Albert Arenas

It was more than four months after the first Grand Prix which took place in Qatar at the beginning of March that the riders of the Moto3 World Championship took their place on the starting grid of the Jerez – Ángel Nieto Circuit. Tatsuki suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse Honda) started from pole position with Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46 KTM) and John mcphee (Petronas Sprinta Racing Honda). On the second row of this grid lined up Raúl Fernández (Red Bull KTM Ajo), Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46 KTM) and Jeremy Alcoba (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3 Honda).

World Championship leader Albert Arenas (Gaviota Aspar Team Moto3 KTM) was next on the third row with Roman Fenati (Sterilgarda Max Racing Team Husqvarna) and Gabriel Rodrigo (Kömmerling Gresini Moto3 Honda). The race, scheduled for 22 laps, started early enough at 11 a.m. so as not to have to worry too much about excessive heat from the surface. On the starting grid, the air temperature was 28° and that of the track was 36°.

Moto3 ™	2019	2020
FP1	1'47.052 John McPhee	1'45.663 Gabriel Rodrigo
FP2	1'46.795 Niccolò Antonelli	1'46.656 Gabriel Rodrigo
FP3	1'45.745 Gabriel Rodrigo	1'45.700 Celestino Vietti
Q1	1'45.917 Tatsuki Suzuki	1'46.595 Romano Fenati
Q2	1'46.011 Lorenzo Dalla Porta	1'45.465 Tatsuki Suzuki
warm up	1'46.553 Andrea Migno	1'46.250 Tatsuki Suzuki
Course	Antonelli, Suzuki, Vietti	Arenas, Ogura, Arbolino
All time lap record	1'45.745 Gabriel Rodrigo (2019)	1'45.465 Tatsuki Suzuki (2020)

31 drivers were present on the grid. None of them was French, which did not prevent France from being represented by both teams Red Bull KTM Tech 3 (with Deniz Öncü and Ayumu Sasaki) and CIP Green Power (with Darryn Binder and Maximilian Kofler).

When the lights went out, the fastest to set off was Suzuki, ahead of Migno, Fernández and Arenas. Dennis Foggia fell during the first lap, as did Carlos Tatay (without seriousness).

Suzuki quickly opened up a gap of more than half a second, ahead of Migno, Fernández, Vietti, Arenas and Arbolino.

Suzuki was joined by Migno, Vietti and Fernández. The leading group included nine drivers. Arbolino almost fell and barely remained on his motorcycle. Arenas also came close to disaster.

Vietti took command 18 laps from the checkered flag, ahead of Migno, Arenas, Arbolino and Suzuki.

The leading group included 11 men with 16 laps remaining. Vietti preceded Migno, Arbolino, Rodrigo and Arenas. Riccardo Rossi fell without seriousness in Turn 2.

Vietti remained firmly in first position, ahead of Arbolino, Arenas, Alcoba and Migno.

There were nine in the leading group at halfway, with Vietti holding on magnificently on the top step of the provisional podium, ahead of Arbolino, Arenas, Alcoba and McPhee. Darryn Binder brought Alain Bronec's team into fifth position after a superb comeback. Filip Salaċ fell without seriousness.

Arenas, the leader of the World Championship, took command ahead of Arbolino, McPhee, Binder, Vietti and Suzuki.

There were twelve of them in the leading pack with six laps remaining, and each of them was likely to win. Arenas led ahead of Arbolino, McPhee, Binder, Suzuki and Vietti.

The two Tech 3 drivers Öncü and Sasaki, after a difficult start to the race due to a hard rear tire, recovered magnificently and joined the group of leaders.

Arbolino took the lead 5 laps from the checkered flag, ahead of McPhee, who took the lead on the following lap. The Scotsman preceded Arbolino and Vietti, when suddenly Öncü, unfortunately, fell without seriousness.

Two laps from the finish, Arbolino preceded McPhee, Arenas, Ogura and Vietti. Darryn Binder, although well placed in the top 10, lost the front and fell in Turn 9.

Arenas finally won in the sprint ahead of Ogura and Arbolino.

Race results:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

Photos © Motogp.com / Dorna, teams and manufacturers