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MotoGP Qatar GP: Masia wins Moto3 title, Aldeguer takes third straight Moto2 win

Jaume Masia Ayumu Sasaki Qatar Adrian Fernandez Leopard Racing

Spaniard Masia came to Qatar leading the championship by 13 points and needed to outscore his rival Ayumu Sasaki by 12 points to wrap up the title with a round to spare.

Masia has been something of a journeyman in the Moto3 class since making his debut in 2017.

It wouldn’t be until 2019 that Masia won his first grand prix, taking victory from pole at the Argentina GP on his way to ninth in the points.

Moving to Leopard Honda for 2020, Masia won twice to finish sixth in the standings and was fourth in the championship with a single victory the following year having moved to Moto3 class kingmaker Aki Ajo’s KTM squad.

Despite winning twice in 2022, Masia could only manage sixth in the championship and would return to Leopard Honda for 2023.

Coming from 10th on the grid in Qatar, Masia found himself involved in a chaotic 16-lap grand prix.

On several occasions, Masia and Sasaki locked horns on track. Twice did Masia come through aggressively, sitting up the Intact GP Husqvarna-mounted Sasaki. Masia was given a conduct warning for this.

Jaume Masia, Leopard Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

It all started to go wrong for Sasaki at the start of lap 13. Leading into Turn 1, Masia launched his Leopard Honda up the inside of the Japanese rider to regain first.

Sasaki then lost three more spots into Turn 2 to drop to fifth, before Masia’s team-mate Adrian Fernandez forced Sasaki wide at Turn 6 to dump him down to eighth.

Fernandez would do the same thing to Sasaki again at the last corner to drop him to 10th as Masia led over the line.

Masia faced stiff opposition for the win from the chasing David Alonso (Aspar), Ajo KTM’s Deniz Oncu – who served two long lap penalties for jumping the start – and SIC58’s Riccardo Rossi.

Sasaki was able to get back into the top six on the final lap, but a massive moment going through Turn 13 almost led to him crashing out.

With Masia snatching a fourth win of the season on the run to the line by 0.068s, it would be enough for the Spaniard to wrap up the championship.

Masia’s championship marks the first for Honda in Moto3 since Lorenzo Dalla Porta in 2019, when he secured the title for Leopard Racing.

For the 2024 season, Masia will step up to the Moto2 class with the SAG Racing team.

Moto3 Qatar GP results

 
 
         
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Retirement Points
1 Spain J. Masia Leopard Racing 5 Honda 16

33'50.694

   152.6   25
2
D. Alonso GAVIOTA GASGAS Aspar Team
80 GASGAS 16

+0.068

33'50.762

 0.068 152.5   20
3 Turkey D. Öncü Red Bull KTM Factory Racing 53 KTM 16

+0.163

33'50.857

 0.095 152.5   16
4 Italy R. Rossi SIC58 Squadra Corse 54 Honda 16

+0.285

33'50.979

 0.122 152.5   13
5 Spain V. Pérez BOE Motorsports 21 KTM 16

+1.553

33'52.247

 1.268 152.4   11
6 Japan A. Sasaki Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP 71 Husqvarna 16

+1.566

33'52.260

 0.013 152.4   10
7
M. Bertelle Rivacold Snipers Team
18 Honda 16

+1.725

33'52.419

 0.159 152.4   9
8 Japan K. Toba SIC58 Squadra Corse 27 Honda 16

+1.846

33'52.540

 0.121 152.4   8
9 Spain D. Holgado Red Bull KTM Tech 3 96 KTM 16

+1.943

33'52.637

 0.097 152.4   7
10
C. Veijer Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP
95 Husqvarna 16

+2.019

33'52.713

 0.076 152.4   6
11 Italy R. Fenati Rivacold Snipers Team 55 Honda 16

+3.634

33'54.328

 1.615 152.3   5
12
D. Muñoz BOE Motorsports
44 KTM 16

+4.003

33'54.697

 0.369 152.3   4
13
J. Kelso CFMoto Racing PruestelGP
66 CF MOTO 16

+4.060

33'54.754

 0.057 152.2   3
14 Japan T. Furusato Honda Team Asia 72 Honda 16

+4.166

33'54.860

 0.106 152.2   2
15
I. Ortola Angeluss MTA Team
48 KTM 16

+4.228

33'54.922

 0.062 152.2   1
16
J. Antonio Red Bull KTM Factory Racing
99 KTM 16

+4.707

33'55.401

 0.479 152.2    
17 Mexico A. Fernandez Leopard Racing 31 Honda 16

+5.139

33'55.833

 0.432 152.2    
18 Italy S. Nepa Angeluss MTA Team 82 KTM 16

+5.221

33'55.915

 0.082 152.2    
19 United Kingdom S. Ogden VisionTrack Racing Team 19 Honda 16

+5.589

33'56.283

 0.368 152.1    
20 Spain X. Artigas CFMoto Racing PruestelGP 43 CF MOTO 16

+7.934

33'58.628

 2.345 152.0    
21 Japan R. Yamanaka GAVIOTA GASGAS Aspar Team 6 GASGAS 16

+8.140

33'58.834

 0.206 151.9    
22
S. Azman MT Helmets - MSI
63 KTM 16

+22.445

34'13.139

 14.305 150.9    
23
D. Salvador CIP
38 KTM 16

+22.622

34'13.316

 0.177 150.9    
24 France L. Fellon CIP 20 KTM 16

+33.718

34'24.412

 11.096 150.1    
25 Indonesia M. Aji Honda Team Asia 64 Honda 16

+34.010

34'24.704

 0.292 150.0    
26 Brazil D. Moreira MT Helmets - MSI 10 KTM 16

+41.722

34'32.416

 7.712 149.5    
dnf
F. Farioli Red Bull KTM Tech 3
7 KTM 3

+13 Laps

6'25.293

 13 Laps 150.8 Accident  
dnf United Kingdom J. Whatley VisionTrack Racing Team 70 Honda 0

 

     Accident  
View full results  

Aldeguer wins third-straight Moto2 race as MotoGP rumours persist

Fermin Aldeguer, Speed Up Racing (Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images)

SpeedUp rider Fermin Aldeguer scored his third-successive Moto2 victory in dominant fashion in Qatar.

The Spaniard took the lead from Aron Canet with 10 laps to go in the grand prix and eased off into the distance towards the chequered flag.

Aldeguer remains in the frame for a MotoGP step in 2024 with VR46 Ducati, should Luca Marini sign for Honda to replace Marc Marquez.

The podium was completed by Manuel Gonzalez, who snatched second from Pons rider Canet on his Yamaha VR46 Master Camp-run bike by 0.009s.

Recently-crowned Moto2 world champion Pedro Acosta was eighth.

Moto2 Qatar GP results

 
 
         
Driver Info
 
 
 
   
Cla Rider # Bike Laps Time Interval km/h Retirement Points
1 Spain F. Aldeguer Beta Tools - Speed Up Racing 54 Boscoscuro B-21 18

-

       25
2 Spain M. Gonzalez Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp 18 Kalex 18

+2.643

2.643

 2.643     20
3 Spain A. Canet Pons Wegow Los40 40 Kalex 18

+2.652

2.652

 0.009     16
4 Japan A. Ogura Honda Team Asia 79 Kalex 18

+4.585

4.585

 1.933     13
5 United Kingdom J. Dixon Inde GASGAS Aspar Team 96 Kalex 18

+4.645

4.645

 0.060     11
6 Italy C. Vietti Ramus Fantic Racing 13 Kalex 18

+5.936

5.936

 1.291     10
7 Thailand S. Chantra Honda Team Asia 35 Kalex 18

+6.212

6.212

 0.276     9
8 Spain P. Acosta Ajo Motorsport 37 Kalex 18

+6.598

6.598

 0.386     8
9 Spain A. López Beta Tools - Speed Up Racing 21 Boscoscuro B-21 18

+7.269

7.269

 0.671     7
10 Italy T. Arbolino Elf Marc VDS Racing Team 14 Kalex 18

+11.302

11.302

 4.033     6
11 United States J. Roberts Italtrans Racing Team 16 Kalex 18

+11.565

11.565

 0.263     5
12 United Kingdom S. Lowes Elf Marc VDS Racing Team 22 Kalex 18

+11.663

11.663

 0.098     4
13 Spain M. Ramirez American Racing 24 Kalex 18

+16.105

16.105

 4.442     3
14 South Africa D. Binder Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP 15 Kalex 18

+16.306

16.306

 0.201     2
15 Spain J. Alcoba QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 52 Kalex 18

+19.293

19.293

 2.987     1
16 Italy D. Foggia Italtrans Racing Team 71 Kalex 18

+19.513

19.513

 0.220      
17 Spain S. García Pons Wegow Los40 11 Kalex 18

+19.602

19.602

 0.089      
18 Belgium B. Baltus Fieten Olie Racing GP 7 Kalex 18

+19.968

19.968

 0.366      
19 Netherlands Z. van den Goorbergh Fieten Olie Racing GP 84 Kalex 18

+23.303

23.303

 3.335      
20
Á. Escrig Forward Team
17 Forward F2 18

+25.075

25.075

 1.772      
21 Spain A. Arenas Ajo Motorsport 75 Kalex 18

+28.571

28.571

 3.496      
22 Netherlands B. Bendsneyder Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team 64 Kalex 18

+28.636

28.636

 0.065      
23 Spain I. Guevara Inde GASGAS Aspar Team 28 Kalex 18

+30.571

30.571

 1.935      
24 United Kingdom R. Skinner American Racing 33 Kalex 18

+32.413

32.413

 1.842      
25
T. Hada Pertamina Mandalika SAG Team
23 Kalex 18

+35.127

35.127

 2.714      
26 Italy M. Casadei Fantic Racing 9 Kalex 18

+36.741

36.741

 1.614      
dnf Japan K. Nozane Correos Prepago Yamaha VR46 Master Camp 5 Kalex 11

 

     Accident  
dnf Germany L. Tulovic Liqui Moly Husqvarna Intact GP 3 Kalex 7

 

     Retirement  
dnf
S. Kelly Forward Team
4 Forward F2 4

 

     Retirement  
dns Czech Republic F. Salač QJMOTOR Gresini Moto2 12 Kalex 0

 

        
View full results  
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