Leopard Honda rider Marcos Ramirez won his first Moto3 race in a Catalan crash-fest which saw only nineteen riders finish the race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Starting from the outside of the fourth row, Ramirez constantly found himself at the sharp end of the field in a race which saw a lead group upwards of fifteen riders at multiple stages in the race.

Going into the final of lap, it was Kaito Toba who led from Aron Canet, with the Japanese and Spanish riders looking as if they were going to battle for the the lead. Toba held his Honda Team Asia bike in the lead, looking as if he may win his second race of 2019, however, the Japanese rider lost the front end of his Honda at turn ten.

Toba’s crash forced Canet to sit up, allowing third place Ramirez to slide into the lead. Despite a last corner, Rossi-esque attempt, however the World Championship leader couldn’t pull it off, having to settle for second behind the Leopard man who held on his first career win in the World Championship.

Celestino Vietti held off young Sergio Garcia after a last corner lunge for another podium for the Sky Racing VR46 team, with Garcia left for tears after missing out on a home podium.

Denis Foggia was fifth place, ahead of Ai Ogura and Romano Fenati. Ayumu Sasaki, Ryusei Yamanaka and Jakub Kornfiel rounded out the top ten. It was a case of damage limitation for Nico Antonelli, who could only manage eleventh despite getting himself into the top three at one point earlier in the race.

A special mention must go to John McPhee who was in with a shout of victory before Toba’s crash, when he essentially high-sided his Petronas Honda, only to somehow save the crash, Randy Mamola style, to bring it home in thirteenth position.

It was a great day in the World Championship for Canet, with second placed Lorezno Dalla Porta and sixth placed Tony Arbolino having their Honda’s break down, whilst fourth place Jaume Masia was a victim of Darryn Binder at turn one, leaving the Spaniard to extend his lead atop the World Championship to 23 points.