Moto3 Andalucia: Suzuki victory throws championship wide open
Tatskui Suzuki was unmatched in the final laps of the Andalucia Moto3 Grand Prix as he held firm at the front to win in Jerez.
The SIC58 Squadra Corse rider managed to look secure at the head of the race while his rivals tried to find a way around his Honda.
The Japanese rider had started on pole and this time it was to be third time lucky as he translated his qualifying form to a win, surviving the last lap scramble behind him to hold on by a 0.064s gap.
Suzuki had a huge turnaround in form after finishing eighth at the same track last weekend. He becomes the first Moto3 rider to win from pole in Jerez and moves to second in the championship.
The title race is still lead by Albert Arenas, who had a horrible tumble through the gravel at turn eleven. The points in his account from winning the first two races sees him stay on 50, with Suzuki now just six points behind.
A relieved John McPhee was in contention in second at the corner where he fell last Sunday. The Petronas Sprinta Racing rider had started his race in similar fashion - dropping down the order and fighting back aboard his Honda. This time he stayed out of trouble and did all he could to try and pass Suzuki, but stayed second to bring home valuable points.
The final podium spot went to Celestino Vietti. The top KTM rider moved into the lead group in the closing stages for Sky Racing Team VR46 and a late push saw him pass Darryn Binder for third.
That left the South African having to settle for fourth. His performance was still impressive after coming from 25th on the grid for CIP Green Power.
Jeremy Alcoba had found a way past Binder on the way to the chequered flag too, but the Kommerling Gresini rider had failed to take his in-race track limits penalty, so was instead given a time deduction at the close of the race, dropping him to seventh. The Spaniard remained the best of the rookies.
Gabriel Rodrigo was elevated to fifth after briefly leading the race for Kommerling Gresini. Raul Fernandez was adrift of the lead group but easily ahead of the chasing pack as he finished a lonely sixth for Red Bull KTM Ajo.
Eighth went to Sergio Garcia for Estrella Galicia, with his teammate Ryusei Yamanaka equalling his best finish in ninth.
Tony Arbolino did enough to complete the top ten for Rivacold Snipers.
Kaito Toba was next to reach the finish line for the Red Bull team, just ahead of Romano Fenati. The experienced Italian fought his foot pain to move into the points late on for Sterilgarda Max Racing.
Carlos Tatay was just short of his best finish for Reale Avintia Moto3 in 13th. Stefano Nepa took 14th for Aspar while Niccolo Antonelli (SIC 58 Squadra Corse) completed a difficult, off the pace weekend by collecting the final point on offer.
The first corner of lap eight saw Andrea Migno take Ayumu Sasaki with him into the gravel. Moments later at turn nine Jaume Masia lost the front and collected the unfortunate Ai Ogura. The Japanese rider had been second in the standings before this round. Both had been running in the lead group at the time.
Filip Salac retired from the race around the halfway point. He was pictured limping in his garage.
Davide Pizzoli, Deniz Oncu and Dennis Foggia all also failed to finish.
Alonso Lopez missed the race through illness.
