Marco Bezzecchi won the Japanese round ahead of Lorenzo Dalla Porta and an unexpected Darryn Binder. Jorge Martín crashed, re-opening the competition for the World title.
An overtake per turn, many unexpected turns of events, an impressive number of crashes, a thrilling end and a victory that came just with the photo finish: here you are the ingredients of the amazing Moto3 GP of Japan. Marco Bezzecchi managed to win by a narrow 41 thousandths advantage, leaving Lorenzo Dalla Porta 2nd. But the real surprise was Darryn Binder, as he engaged in a fierce battle for the podium and eventually won the 3rd place. Jorge Martín closed with 0 points due to a fall, just a few laps before the end of the race. He is still the World Championship leader for now, but he only has 1 point more than “Bez”.
The poleman Rodrigo performed a great kickoff, taking the lead ahead of Bezzecchi, McPhee and Martín. Canet’s race ended almost immediately, as he decided to compete despite a recent injury but had to start from the 19th place on the starting grid. The wildcard Fukushima withdrew from the race, but we also witnessed an accident between Antonelli and Pérez: the Spanish rider hit the rear of the Italian rider’s bike and the latter was literally thrown out. He suffered a violent fall and seemed in a lot of pain when he eventually managed to lift himself from the gravel (this is his second fall this weekend). He was taken away on a gurney and immediately took to the Medical Center for checkups: he suffered a back contusion and a fracture on his left foot. Di Giannantonio’s conditions didn’t seem very promising either, as he suffered a violent high side and had to be helped by the medical staff, just a few laps after the previous crash: he suffered a cranial trauma and had to be taken to the hospital for further examinations. The other noticeable falls were those of the local rider Masaki (who managed to re-enter the race) and that of Arenas.
As usual in this category, the battle for the podium was particularly intense. A group of riders (Martín and Bezzecchi included) managed to leave a large margin from their rivals and started fighting for the podium’s positions. The race has been filled with overtakes (almost one per turn), some of which very risky, to the point that the bikes of the two main rivals for the title of World Champion even touch each other. But today’s unexpected turns of events happened just 6 laps before the end of the race: Jorge Martín went out of trajectory and slipped on turn 11 (you can find the video here) and despite many attempts didn’t manage to re-enter the race. This was he finished with 0 points, a difficult result for him but one that really leaves the competition for the title of World Champion open.
Marco Bezzecchi made a mistake that could have stood on his way to the podium, but he managed to cross the finish line 1st with a great final sprint. This result is really important for the overall ranking. Another great race for Lorenzo Dalla Porta, 2nd, but an even better one for Darryn Binder. The latter made an amazing performance that gave him his first podium in a World Championship. The rookies Dennis Foggia also got an excellent 4th place after a leading character-like race. John McPhee closed the race 5th ahead of Tony Arbolino and Enea Bastianini, while the poleman Gabriel Rodrigo only got the 8th position. Ayumu Sasaki finished just behind him, ahead of Jakub Kornfeil.
The ranking
