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Race report

Motegi Moto3: Dalla Porta wins as title rivals crash

Lorenzo Dalla Porta made a huge step towards the 2019 Moto3 title by taking victory at Motegi, while his two nearest rivals in the points, Aron Canet and Tony Arbolino, crashed.

Lorenzo Dalla Porta, Leopard Racing,  Moto3

Lorenzo Dalla Porta, Leopard Racing, Moto3

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Leopard Honda rider Dalla Porta took his only second win of 2019 and now has a lead of 47 points in the standings over Canet with three races to go.

Local hero Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Honda) took first place off the line from third on the grid and his lead was uninterrupted for eight laps as Alonso Lopez, Sergio Garcia and Albert Arenas took turns running second.

Then, title contenders Canet and Dalla Porta moved up the order side by side but, while Canet's challenge on Suzuki was shor-tlived, Dalla Porta was able to slipstream past the Japanese rider at Turn 11 for the lead.

Soon after he moved into first place, both of Dalla Porta's title rivals crashed - Arbolino at Turn 5, having recovered from 27th on the grid to eighth and Canet at Turn 9, having started to struggle to stay with the leaders.

Dalla Porta remainder under pressure from Suzuki, who was able to pass him twice at Turn 5, only for the Italian to immediately retake the place at Turn 7 on both occasions.

The duo entered the final lap of the race in the same order but Suzuki was unable to hold on to second, as Arenas found his way through at Turn 7, and then Celestino Vietti stole the final podium position with two corners to go.

At the front, Dalla Porta won by less than a tenth ahead of Angel Nieto KTM rider Arenas, who followed up his Thailand win with a second place and VR46 rookie Vietti taking the fourth Moto3 podium of his career.

Suzuki settled for fourth with EG0,0 Honda rookie Garcia taking his best result in fifth, the last rider in the lead group.

John McPhee (Petronas Honda) was a distant sixth followed by Jaume Masia (WWR KTM), who lost touch with the lead group as a result of a mistake at the final corner.

Dalla Porta's Leopard teammate Marcos Ramirez, Lopez (EG0,0) and Andrea Migno (WWR) completed the top 10.

Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58), who was on pole despite still nursing wrist and collarbone injuries from Misano, ended up 12th.

Jakub Kornfeil and Gabriel Rodrigo collided at Turn 4 on the opening lap with Tom Booth-Amos soon following suit, having made contact with Can Oncu's bike.

Darryn Binder fell at Turn 11 while running in the top 10 and Romano Fenati, returning after three races on the sidelines, retired with brake failure.

Race results:

Cla # Rider Bike Laps Time
1 48 Italy Lorenzo Dalla Porta
Honda 20 39'34.866
2 75 Spain Albert Arenas
KTM 20 39'34.960
3 13 Italy Celestino Vietti Ramus
KTM 20 39'35.064
4 24 Japan Tatsuki Suzuki
Honda 20 39'35.155
5 11 Spain Sergio García
Honda 20 39'35.303
6 17 United Kingdom John McPhee
Honda 20 39'38.514
7 5 Spain Jaume Masia
KTM 20 39'42.091
8 42 Spain Marcos Ramirez
Honda 20 39'42.248
9 21 Spain Alonso López
Honda 20 39'43.038
10 16 Italy Andrea Migno
KTM 20 39'46.920
11 76 Kazakhstan Makar Yurchenko
KTM 20 39'47.162
12 23 Italy Niccolo Antonelli
Honda 20 39'48.161
13 71 Japan Ayumu Sasaki
Honda 20 39'48.174
14 79 Japan Ai Ogura
Honda 20 39'48.199
15 6 Ryusei Yamanaka
Honda 20 39'48.228
16 82 Italy Stefano Nepa
KTM 20 39'48.246
17 27 Japan Kaito Toba
Honda 20 39'48.353
18 61 Turkey Can Öncü
KTM 20 39'48.806
19 25 Spain Raúl Fernández
KTM 20 39'49.514
20 22 Japan Kazuki Masaki
KTM 20 39'57.752
21 54 Italy Riccardo Rossi
Honda 20 39'57.773
22 12 Czech Republic Filip Salač
KTM 20 39'58.282
23 7 Italy Dennis Foggia
KTM 20 40'07.594
24 69 United Kingdom Tom Booth-Amos
KTM 16 41'24.666
55 Italy Romano Fenati
Honda 15 29'53.062
44 Spain Arón Canet
KTM 14 27'59.414
14 Italy Tony Arbolino
Honda 9 17'53.771
40 South Africa Darryn Binder
KTM 7 14'37.313
84 Czech Republic Jakub Kornfeil
KTM 0
19 Argentina Gabriel Rodrigo
Honda 0

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