Moto3 Valencia Race: Xavier Artigas takes maiden victory in classic race
Xavier Artigas won a classic Moto3 race which saw Foggia and Acosta lock horns.
Moto3 has had its fair share of up and downs this year with criticism for the dangerous racing which has been on show at times, this time out in Valencia it was a different story as the class returned to form in a classic race with the top 10 riders all battling it out for victory at the Valencian circuit, trading places each corner and pushing one another to their limits and even past these limits in some scary moments.
The race began with a big crash on the opening lap with the younger Lorenzo Fellon meeting the tarmac after a scary high side, Darryn Binder would be a ‘nice guy’ and replicate this crash just seconds later with a high side into the path of the rest of the field saving Fellon some embarrassment, thankfully both riders were ok. Ryusei Yamanaka would also become an unfortunate victim in the accident after smashing into the rear of Jaume Masia who was taking evasive action, Yamanaka remounting before finishing in pit lane.
On the successive lap Pedro Acosta would have a moment of his own losing the front before somehow saving it only dropping two places behind an unbelievably determined Filip Salac who was desperate to take another Moto3 podium in his final race in the class before he steps up to Moto2, Sergio Garcia also being involved in the scrap.
The front riders which included Izan Guevara would continue to trade places allowing Deniz Oncu to come to the fore, the Turkish rider returning to the class after a suspension from Misano and Portimao, instantly leading the race on his return with some really really risky next level moves, the young rider braking later than anyone riding super aggressively before finding himself being penalised for track limits being forced to take a long lap penalty.
Over the following laps more and more riders would be added to the mix including Jaume Masia from P23 on the grid and Xavier Artigas, the lightweight front fighters trading places between them as we expect, well from what we saw anyway after hiding behind the sofa on every overtake, Pedro Acosta and Sergio Garcia even colliding pretty violently out of turn 2.
Whilst all this was going on Dennis Foggia was working away making his way past riders to step into the podium places against his ex-title rival Pedro Acosta, the pair going head to head in the battle we hoped to see at Portimao but were robbed off thanks to a crash, the fierce battlers were holding nothing back racing one another, Acosta showing superb speed into the final corner braking unbelievably late, we went into the final lap with both riders scrapping for victory hoping for a last corner move but sadly it wasn’t to be after Dennis Foggia made contact with the world champion sending him down the road, eventually copping a three-second penalty being demoted down to P13.
At the front this left Sergio Garcia and Xavier Artigas to battle one other for victory, Garcia looking like he had it in the bag before opening a gap and letting Artigas through at the final corner handing the rookie his first Moto3 win, the young Spaniard absolutely overjoyed at the win.
Artigas was joined on the podium by Sergio Garcia and Jaume Masia, Masia somehow not being too affected by Yamanaka crashing into him being fast enough to take a podium finish ahead of Filip Salac and Deniz Oncu who no doubt would’ve been in contention for a podium if he respected the track limits.
Further down we saw Stefano Nepa place in P6 ahead of early race leader Izan Guevara with Carlos Tatay, Niccolo Antonelli and Ayumu Sasaki rounding off the top 10, Dennis Foggia finishing in P13, ending his 100% podium or zero points streak.
Full results –
