Tony Arbolino took an impressive win in the opening race of the Valencia GP this morning to firmly boost his title hopes, after stalking Raul Fernandez for the entirety of the 23-lap distance before pouncing on the penultimate lap.
Sergio Garcia also demoted the KTM rider as the race reached its conclusion with Fernandez forced to settle for third at the flag. John McPhee rode a steady race on the edge of the top-10 before concluding the Spanish contest in 11th.
Clear blue skies and sunshine greeted the Moto3 riders as the first race of the penultimate weekend got firmly underway, Darryn Binder launching from the pole position but it was Kaito Toba who briefly stole the holeshot, the South African taking it back on the second corner as Fernandez swooped through to take second.
Albert Arenas and Arbolino followed the leading trio in fourth and fifth as Fernandez took the lead, Binder dropping back to third as the two KTM’s took charge. Drama at turn five saw Tatsuki Suzuki and Toba crash out after the Sic58 rider tangled with the high-siding KTM, Binder lucky to avoid the carnage.
Back at the front Fernandez held a 1.5s lead from Arbolino and Arenas, Jaume Masia getting the better of Binder before making his move on the Championship-leader, Celestino Vietti’s title hopes fading into the dust as his Sky machine found the gravel on lap four.
With five laps down, McPhee was fighting with Romano Fenati on the edge of the points positions, in 16th, the Scot besting the Italian, and his countryman Niccolò Antonelli, for 14th on the next revolution.
As the race got into its stride, Fernandez was continuing to advance his lead at the front, Arbolino dicing with Arenas and Garcia for podium honours as Binder bided his time behind in fifth. Ai Ogura found his rhythm and began to make moves from the back of the top-10, finding eighth with 15 laps to go and Andrea Migno next in his sights, as Gabriel Rodrigo and Alonso Lopez left the party early at turn 14 - the incident gaining race direction’s attention for post-race consideration.
Lap 10 saw McPhee enter the top-10 but with a three-second deficit to make up before joining Masia and the group ahead. A battle for position with Jeremy Alcoba, however, prevented the Petronas rider from making any inroads over the following laps.
11 to go and Fernandez held firm at the front, Arbolino likewise in second as Garcia looked to challenge the Snipers rider, Arenas and Öncü fractionally behind as the podium battle heated up. Ogura made his move for seventh the next time around but another three-second gap separated him from Binder and the back of the leading pack.
The final eight laps saw Arbolino begin to reel in the KTM. The distance down to just seventh-tenths and fading fast as the Italian attacked, Garcia coming along for the ride as Arenas dropped back, now a second adrift, with less than two-tenths separating the podium challengers as lap 19 began.
A three-way-battle for seventh saw Migno, Ogura and Masia repeatedly swapping positions as the race neared its conclusion. Garcia made a brief strike for second, Arbolino recovering with just three laps left to run as the squabbling pair allowed Fernandez a slight respite out front.
The penultimate lap began with Arbolino finally staking his claim on the lead and immediately aiming to break the two riders behind. Garcia and Fernandez now fighting for second into the start of the final circuit.
The Italian held fast to take the victory by over a second - igniting his title hopes now just 11 points behind - as Garcia held off Fernandez’ KTM in the rostrum fight. Arenas and Binder bickered for fourth throughout the final revolution with the Spaniard winning out at the flag and Öncü rounding out the top-six.
The three-rider battle behind was eventually won by Migno, from Ogura and Masia, with Alcoba taking 10th from McPhee in the dying moments by a mere 0.077s. Fenati, Stefano Nepa, Antonelli and Ryusei Yamanaka concluded the final points positions.
