Moto3 Aragon: Martin masterclass, Bezzecchi bounces back
Jorge Martin transferred his Aragon qualifying pace to the Moto3 race, breaking away early to claim his sixth win of the season.
The Del Conca Gresini rider got a perfect start from pole and never looked back, pulling out a 1.5 second gap on lap one which increased over the duration.
At it’s biggest the gap rose to 7.5 seconds and when the Spaniard’s Motorland masterclass ended, he cruised over the line solo on his Honda with a gap of 5.984s.
Martin now leads the championship by 13 points with a total of 191.
Title rival Marco Bezzecchi was demoted to 18th on the grid as one of the many riders to receive a penalty for their behaviour on track in qualifying, but immediately set about getting back in the race, he had soon moved up to twelfth with some decisive moves.
He continued to carve his way through the pack to second, where the Redox PruestelGP rider began to attempt to catch Martin, but the task was by then impossble.
Bezzecchi reduced the gap a little, let others lead for a few laps to save tyres and then made the most of his KTM power on the back straight, coupled with some great cornering at the start of the final sector to limit the damage to his title hopes with second.
The final podium spot went to Enea Bastianini, he too received a penalty, starting 15th for Leopard, but moved his Honda into the chasing pack of six, where he grabbed his rostrum opportunity in the run to the line.
Just missing out after a superb battle in the pack were Fabio Di Giannantonio, who took fourth on his 50th grand Prix start for Gresini, Marcos Ramirez in fifth for Bester Capital Dubai, just ahead of Tatsuki Suzuki on the SIC 58 Squadra Corse Honda.
Albert Arenas drifted to the back of the group, he finished seventh for the Angel Nieto team.
Adam Norrodin did his best to keep in touch after the leaders were split by Gabriel Rodrigo’s late fall in front of him but couldn’t bridge the gap, leaving him eighth for Petronas Sprinta Racing.
Jaume Masia took a brave ninth, the top rookie in the race fell in warm-up and cracked his collarbone, but was declared fit to race for Bester Capital Dubai and gave everything he had to finish the race.
The top ten was completed by John McPhee. The Brit gained places in the grid shuffle, starting 10th instead of 23rd for CIP-Green Power but lacked the pace to get in the mix in the opening laps, dropping out of the points places. The Oban rider stayed calm and didn’t panic and as the group he was in was large and competitive he managed to pick off the places again.
Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PruestelGP) was sent to the back of the grid but fought back for eleventh, while Andrea Migno (Angel Nieto Team) had the same penalty and followed him through for twelfth.
The remaining points went to Misano winner Lorenzo Dalla Porta in 13th for Leopard, Reale Avinita’s Vicente Perez, who survived a scary moment for all early on when he ran wide and rejoined in the middle of the pack but managed not to collect anybody, and Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) in 15th.
Niccolo Antonelli was the only other faller, crashing on the penultimate lap just before Rodrigo.
Aron Canet attempted to ride with his shoulder injury, and after being elevated to the front row by the penalties, he soon found himself in 16th, an elected to pull into the pits with eight laps remaining.
Ayumu Sasaki’s wrist injury meant he missed the race.
