Moto3: Masia holds off Acosta, Binder for Qatar victory

The 2021 Moto3 World Championship got underway as the sun set in Qatar at the Losail International Circuit. Darryn Binder started from his debut World Championship pole position on his debut for the Petronas Sprinta Racing team.

It was the pole sitter, Binder, who took the holeshot into turn one with a fantastic start, leading from his Honda stablemate Gabriel Rodrigo. The first lap was relatively uneventful, save far contact between Carlos Tatay and Dennis Foggia in turn three which left the Italian on the floor just seconds into the first race of the season, and a crash for Deniz Oncu. 

Although Binder made the holeshot, it was Rodrigo who led over the line to start the second lap, by the end of which Xavi Artigas had climbed into the top 10 despite starting down in 24th. Unfortunately for Artigas, and three others, he was over-ambitious into turn six on lap three, and careered into the side of Andrea Migno, with that contact causing a ‘domino effect’, taking down Jeremy Alcoba and John McPhee as well. The incident was to be reviewed after the race. 

Back at the front and the Red Bull KTM riders – both Ajo bikes of Jaume Masia and Pedro Acosta, and the Tech 3 machine of Ayumu Sasaki – were making themselves at home at the front. No one was able to get away, but the relative ease with which the trio were able to resume positions within the top five was notable. 

Also there with them were Rodrigo, Binder, Izan Guevara and Sergio Garcia. Although the front group was up to 14-strong, it was these seven riders who seemed the strongest. 

Despite that, a mistakes from Masia and Binder in turn 10 took them both wide and closed the field up through turn 11, which is flat out on a Moto3 bike. The slipstreaming battle that resulted saw Niccolo Antonelli take the lead just a few turns from the end of the penultimate lap.

Once again, though, the Red Bull KTM riders were able to overcome Antonelli and assume the top three positions, with Binder also moving through to fourth. That became third when Sasaki crashed in turn two, and the top three from there, of Masia, Acosta and Binder, distanced themselves and ensured the winner would be decided between them.  

A mistake from Binder appeared to rule the South African out at turn 12, but a strong entry into turn 16 put him right back on the tail of Acosta in second. 

Masia looked to be a sitting duck. With a strong headwind down the finish straight and two bikes right behind him, it took a perfectly timed jink to the left just out of the final corner to reduce the slipstream of Acosta and Binder behind enough for the #5 to hang on to the lead until the line. 

It was a superb show of racecraft by Masia, whose timing had secured him his fourth Grand Prix victory, and saved him the embarrassment of being beaten to the line by a rookie teammate. 

That rookie teammate, though, made a superb race. He took the best Moto3 racers in the world on at one of the most notorious circuits for pack racing and proved he can battle just as hard as everyone else. Not only was it a great advertisement for his own talent, but also for the Moto3 Junior World Championship – in which he finished third overall last season – and the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup – of which he is the reigning champion. A return to the same venue in just a weeks’ time gives Acosta a good chance to go a step higher on the podium in just his second race. 

Third place for Darryn Binder might seem disappointing after starting from pole position, but he has started his championship challenge in a good way,and proven that the Honda is capable of fighting with the KTMs. 2020 saw some of the greatest parity we have seen in Moto3, and with few changes over the winter it makes sense that that has gone largely unchanged for 2021. 

Finishing just off the podium was Sergio Garcia, with his best performance outside of Spain in a Grand Prix, resulting in fourth. Gabriel Rodrigo completed the top five, which was a good recovery after some contact with Binder earlier on in the race which cost him significant track position. 

Behind Rodrigo was Antonelli, who made a good first impression on his debut at Esponsorama Avintia, finishing sixth ahead of another impressive rookie, Izan Guevara who took seventh. 

Considering he could not complete more than two laps without running out of breath on Friday, and that he started from last on the grid, eighth place was a good result for Tatsuki Suzuki as he continues his recovery from COVID-19. He finished ahead of Kaito Toba and Jason Dupasquier, the Swiss taking his first points in Grand Prix racing, as well as his first top 10. 

Romano Fenati received a double long lap penalty early on in the race, but was able to recover to 11th by the flag, finishing ahead of Carlos Tatay who also received a long lap penalty. Behind them was Filip Salac, ahead of Ryusei Yamanaka and Maximilian Kofler who took his first World Championship point in 15th. 

Yuki Kunii missed out on points by less than one tenth of a second in 16th, finishing ahead of rookie Adrian Fernandez, Stefano Nepa, another rookie in the form of Lorenzo Fellon, and and Deniz Oncu who came back to 20th after his lap one crash. Andi Izdihar was 21st and last. 

There were a whole host of retirements, with Foggia going out on lap one with the contact with Tatay; then Riccardo Rossi crashed out; before Alcoba, Migno and McPhee were taken out by Artigas; and finally Ayumu Sasaki went down on the final lap.