Moto3 Portugal Race: Sergio Garcia wins an anthology battle on the line

Qualifying for the Moto3 class began with, you guessed it, another downpour, but this time the sun had come out by the time Q2 began and conditions improved throughout the session to take the battle for pole to the end. The provisional pole was mainly exchanged between the best man in practice, Mario Aji (Honda, Honda Team Asia, #64), and the most prolific driver in terms of crashes this weekend, Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, # 20), but in this little game, Deniz Öncü (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) won the bet with a lap in 2'03.955, established during his penultimate attempt. Going through the repechage will actually have allowed him to get used to the conditions: a pole which was added to the one registered last year in Styria. Mario Aji (Honda, Honda Team Asia, #64) and Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) will join him on the front row of the grid for the first time, with very impressive performances from both drivers.

Carlos Tatay (CFMoto, CFMoto Racing PruestelGP, #99) opens the second row, half a second from pole, ahead Tatsuki suzuki (Honda, Leopard Racing, #24) and Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11), who still managed to maintain sixth place on the grid after falling three times in the 15-minute session. Riccardo rossi (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #54) in seventh place was more than a second slower than the pole sitter and ahead Scott Ogden (Honda, VisionTrack Racing Team, #19), who very briefly held pole until a yellow flag infraction saw him drop to a career-best eighth place. A Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) more anonymous closes the third row, Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #71) completing the top 10 in qualifying. Andrea Migno (Honda, Rivacold Snipers Team, #16) waited a long time to make a good impression on the timesheets but finally managed to move up to 11th, sharing the fourth row with the championship leader Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7), who managed to qualify in Q2 following his passage in Q1 but could not do better than 12th.

A fall for Daniel Holgado (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #96) let him drop to 13th, opening the fifth row ahead of his compatriot and rookie Diogo Moreira (KTM, MT Helmets – MSI, #10) and the much more experienced Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5), while the sixth row was led by Ryusei Yamanaka (KTM, MT Helmets – MSI, #6) in front of the survivors of Q1, Stefano Nepa (KTM, Team MTA, #82) and Joshua Whatley (Honda, VisionTrack Racing Team, #70), both of whom joined the list of drivers who fell in Q2. The unhappiest man in Q1 was Xavier Artigas (CFMoto, CFMoto Racing PruestelGP, #43), the Spaniard was eliminated from Q2 at the checkered flag and will have to start 19th on the grid.

Who will be the winner of this Portuguese Grand Prix ? Before answering this question, here is the table which summarizes the facts known so far.

Moto3™ Portimão	2021	2022
FP1	1'48.296 Dennis Foggia	2'02.658 Daniel Holgado
FP2	1'48.026 Romano Fenati	2'02.491 Mario Suryo Aji
FP3	1'47.775 John McPhee	2'03.866 Sergio Garcia
Q1	1'48.127 Jeremy Alcoba	2'07.198 Deniz Öncü
Q2	1'47.274 Sergio Garcia	2'03.955 Deniz Öncü
Warm up	1'47.766 Pedro Acosta	1'50.089 Deniz Öncü
Course	Acosta, Migno, Antonelli	Garcia, Masia, Sasaki
All time lap record	1'47.274 Sergio Garcia 2021

At the end of this morning in the Algarve, it is 17°C in the air and 23°C on the track, and sunglasses have replaced umbrellas.

The drivers are ready to set off for a 21-lap race. They only had 10 minutes of dry track on the weekend before the race. However, the last race in Portugal having taken place in November last year, on a dry track, as well as tests last February, the drivers kept their benchmarks and their settings.

Here is the pilots' choice of tires.

When the red lights go out, Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) maintains the advantage of pole position, Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11) comes out second on the grid, ahead Mario Aji (Honda, Honda Team Asia, #64). At the first turn, Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) is 5th, behind Carlos Tatay (CFMoto, CFMoto Racing PruestelGP, #99). Everyone stayed on their wheels.

At the end of the first round, Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) tries to escape but it's Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11) which loses its position on the suction line. Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) is third. Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) fights for 5th position and holds on!

Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11) already has an advantage of almost 1 second over his pursuers from the 2nd lap, and for good reason: Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) and Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) fight for 2nd position and exchange this place at almost every turn, which causes them to lose time.

After 5 laps of the race, with 16 remaining to complete before the end, Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11) is racing alone in the lead and is already 1.421 s ahead of a group of pursuers which is made up of Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28), Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #71), Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53), Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5), Carlos Tatay (CFMoto, CFMoto Racing PruestelGP, #99), Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20), Diogo Moreira (KTM, MT Helmets – MSI, #10) and Scott Ogden (Honda, VisionTrack Racing Team, #19), but they have little gap with the rest of the peloton.

The current leader of the Championship, Dennis Foggia (Honda, Leopard Racing, #7), is currently very far away, in 16th position.

Next, Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) and Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #71) stand out slightly from Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) and Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5), who took a few thousandths ahead of the rest of the pursuers. The fight is good on all levels.

Ivan Ortola (KTM, Team MTA, #48) falls with 14 laps remaining, at turn 8.

With 12 laps remaining before taking the checkered flag, this gap is narrowing: Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11) manages its lead, but it is reduced to 0.217s on Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) and Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #71), who are 0.316s ahead of Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) and Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53). The pursuers are then much further away, at 4.611s.

The pace of the leaders is very fast, Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) is in 11th position. Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) takes the advantage over his teammate in the same lap, and Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) and Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) joined the leaders. We now have a fight with 5 drivers for 3 places on the podium.

With 10 laps to go, the fight rages in the leading group: Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) is still ahead of his teammate for the moment Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11), followed by Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #71), Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) and Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53). Behind, the pursuers are relegated to 5.685s, Carlos Tatay (CFMoto, CFMoto Racing PruestelGP, #99) in the lead.

There is contact between Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28) and Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) braking for turn 1, who remain on their wheels, but Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #71) took the opportunity to take control.

The battle at the front is intense, a Moto3 race as we like it! Despite this, these 5 drivers maintain a lead of 5 seconds over the chasing group. Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) dropped to 15th position, Mario Aji (Honda, Honda Team Asia, #64) is 16th.

There are already only 5 laps left in this race, and the group of 5 drivers continue to fight at every turn or take the slipstream in a straight line. For the moment, Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11) took back control of the race in front Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28), Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #71), Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) and Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) but no one will be able to say who will be on the podium, and even less predict the winner, because the aspiration in the finishing straight will be very important!

Daniel Holgado (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #96) crashes at turn 5.

At the start of the last lap, while the drivers jockey for position, Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #71) took the lead, ahead Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11), Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53), Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) and Izan Guevara (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #28).

This fight leaves its mark, Carlos Tatay (CFMoto, CFMoto Racing PruestelGP, #99) came back to 3.459 s, and still leads the chasing group. Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) is 14th. Unfortunately the French driver will have to perform a Long Lap for having exceeded the limits of the track.

After a final anthology tour, it's Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11) who wins at the wire in front Jaume Masia (KTM, Red Bull KTM Ajo, #5) and Ayumu Sasaki (Husqvarna, Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max, #71). Deniz Oncu (KTM, Red Bull KTM Tech3, #53) is the first disappointed.

Lorenzo Fellon (Honda, SIC58 Squadra Corse, #20) finished 14th.

To end this weekend in style, Sergio Garcia (GasGas, GasGas Aspar Team, #11) was the victim of a small fall…

Standings for the Moto3 Portuguese Grand Prix at the Algarve International Autodrome in Portimão:

Credit Ranking: MotoGP.com