Moto3: Albert Arenas is the 2020 Moto3 World Champion
Albert Arenas was crowned the 2020 Moto3 World Champion in the last race of the season at Portimao.
Albert Arenas has been crowned the 2020 Moto3 World Champion after seemingly spending endless years in the Moto3 class, he is the oldest Moto3 champion to date at 23 years old, turning 24 in early December, but this does not dampen his achievements, he’s been around a long long time, fans of the Junior Moto3 World Championship will know this and remember him scrapping in that championship also before he finally got the break he deserved from Aspar, stepping into their ranks and repaying them with a World Championship.
Arenas had a strong start to the season, winning 3 of the first 5 races of the season, taking a podium in 4 of said races, crashing out of the Andalucian Grand Prix, a crash which caused ankle injuries for the Spaniard which caused a lot of pain for the rider throughout the season, but with true champion mentality, he bit down harder on his gumshield, gritting his teeth and putting in the required work to become champion.
Arenas on the podium at Le Mans, his 5th podium of the season.
He had an incredibly up and down season, taking just 1 x podium in the 10 races which followed this explosion of form in the start of season, his season was hindered by crashes, crashing out of the race in Misano, cutting his championship lead down quite significantly before being taken out in Catalunya by John McPhee. However, his consistency is what won him the title, taking multiple top 5 and top 10 finishes as riders such as Tony Arbolino and Ai Ogura were widely inconsistent, finishing outside of the top 10 and suffering some bad luck with Arbolino being forced to sit out of the Aragon GP after coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Arenas’ outstanding season has one black mark against it, the European Grand Prix, he was hit from behind after a crash saw Alonso Lopez’s bike collide into Arenas and cause damage to his bike including his exhaust linkage snapping, he would return to the pits, have his bike fixed and then return to the track 3 laps down, proceeding to interfere with his title contenders, putting in risky moves on Ai Ogura in an attempt to distract him or play mind games. Arenas was eventually black flagged for this.
Despite this, he was able to pit right his wrongs and win the championship during an incredible scrap at Portimao with absolutely no one knowing who would be champion, even in the last three or four laps, he held his own and got the job done, winning by just 4 points and proving consistency is key to a championship.
Congratulations Albert Arenas, your name will be recorded in history books forever, 2020 Moto3 World Champion.
Featured images – www.motogp.com
