A bent chassis was not enough to stop the Aspar rider from taking a big step towards the lightweight class crown
Izan Guevara has further tightened his grip on the Moto3™ World Championship after prevailing in a four-way battle for victory at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan. The Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team rider qualified only ninth and then had a nasty near-miss with the fence when he crashed in the Sunday morning Warm Up session at the Mobility Resort Motegi. That left him with a bent chassis for the 20-lap race itself, but he still came out on top of a podium completed by Dennis Foggia (Leopard Racing) in second and Japanese rider Ayumu Sasaki (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max) in third. With teammate Sergio Garcia finishing fourth, Garcia’s Championship lead is now 45 points with four races remaining in 2022.
Guevara drops the hammer at the start
Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) had qualified on pole position and he led the field down to the first corner at a sunny Motegi, only to run wide and cede first spot to Garcia (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team). Suzuki got it back at Turn 3 but the man to watch was Guevara, whose GASGAS had been rebuilt after a crash in the Warm Up session when he ran into the rear of John McPhee (Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max). He started back on Row 3 but got away well and was third with an under-brakes move at just Turn 5. Two corners later, he passed Garcia for second, and two corners later again, he overtook Suzuki for the lead!
At the end of Lap 1, Guevara held sway from Garcia, Suzuki, Sasaki, and Foggia, with Jaume Masia (Red Bull KTM Ajo) rounding out the top 10. Garcia dropped to fifth when he ran wide at Turn 1/Turn 2 at the start of the second lap, before Sasaki put a move on fellow Japanese rider Suzuki for second place. The ‘Crazy Boy’ was first when he passed Guevara on Lap 3 at Turn 1, but the Spaniard reclaimed the spot just four corners later. Meanwhile Suzuki had ceded third place to teammate Foggia when he ran wide at Turn 3.
A four-rider battle for the lead
On Lap 4, Sasaki was leading again with a good run off the V Corner (Turn 9) to pass Guevara. The top four were gapping Garcia and he was relegated to sixth when a rising Masia went down his inside on Lap 5 at the Turn 3 left-hander. Both gained a position when Suzuki highsided out of fourth position at Turn…