Doha Moto3: KTM's Acosta charges from pitlane to win

Acosta, along with six other riders, were slapped with pitlane starts for irresponsible riding in FP2 on Friday – but the Ajo KTM rookie carved through from nine seconds off the rest of the pack on lap one to score one of the most sensational wins in grand prix history.

Binder grabbed the holeshot off the line from sixth on the grid, the Petronas Sprinta Honda rider one of only a handful to gamble on the soft rear tyre.

In typical Moto3 fashion, the slipstream effect down the Losail circuit’s main straight meant the lead changed hands constantly as Binder shared first with the likes of Tatsuki Suzuki, Andrea Migno, Filip Salac, Gabriel Rodrigo, Jeremy Alcoba and Kaito Toba.

The lead group didn’t shrink as the race entered its later stages, where chaos ensued.

Binder was squeezed out wide by his teammate John McPhee at Turn 1 on lap 11, dropping the South Africa to 14th, while Alcoba engaged with Tech 3’s Ayumu Sasaki for the lead.

Andrea Migno blasted his Snipers Honda to the head of the pack at the start of the following tour, while teammate Salac’s race came to an end following contact with with Sasaki at Turn 2 on the next lap.

Drama struck at Turn 1 at the start of lap 15 when Gresini’s Alcoba clattered into the rear of Binder and was thrown off his Honda, the bike smacking a helpless McPhee and taking him out of the race.

The incident and McPhee’s violent outburst in the gravel afterwards is currently under investigation.

Qatar GP winner Jaume Masia emerged from the chaos of lap 15 to lead on the following tour, while teammate Acosta worked his way through the top 10 having started from the pitlane.

Acosta led over the line to start the final lap and tried to pull away from Binder behind, though the Petronas Sprinta rider reeled him back in come the end of the tour.

The 16-year-old rookie nailed his run out of the final corner and claimed his first grand prix victory by just 0.039s from Binder.

Niccolo Antonelli completed the top three on the Avintia KTM, pipping Migno and Toba, while Aspar GasGas rookie Izan Guevara recovered from a heavy fall in warm-up to finish sixth.

Sasaki slipped to seventh at the chequered flag, with Ryusei Yamanaka (Prustel GP) heading Masia after the Ajo rider had contact with Rodrigo on the last lap.

Max Racing’s Romano Fenati also came from pitlane to complete the top 10, while Rodrigo came away with 13th for Gresini after his clash with Masia.

Having served a double long lap penalty for a collision in the Qatar GP, Leopard rookie Xavi Artiga was taken down by Avintia’s Carlos Tatay late on. 

Acosta now leads the championship by nine points over Binder heading to the Portuguese GP in two weeks’ time.

Race results:

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Time
1	37	Pedro Acosta	KTM
2	40	Darryn Binder	Honda	0.039
3	23	Niccolo Antonelli	KTM	0.482
4	16	Andrea Migno	Honda	0.514
5	27	Kaito Toba	KTM	0.651
6	28	Izan Guevara	GASGAS	0.708
7	71	Ayumu Sasaki	KTM	1.805
8	6	Ryusei Yamanaka	KTM	1.857
9	5	Jaume Masia	KTM	1.875
10	55	Romano Fenati	Husqvarna	1.967
11	50	Jason Dupasquier	KTM	1.994
12	24	Tatsuki Suzuki	Honda	2.234
13	2	Gabriel Rodrigo	Honda	2.235
14	73	Maximilian Kofler	KTM	2.249
15	92	Yuki Kunii	Honda	2.260
16	82	Stefano Nepa	KTM	5.359
17	7	Dennis Foggia	Honda	11.052
18	53	Deniz Öncü	KTM	11.085
19	54	Riccardo Rossi	KTM	15.996
20	20	Lorenzo Fellon	Honda	17.130
21	99	Carlos Tatay	KTM	18.480
22	19	Andi Gilang	Honda	25.872
23	11	Sergio García	GASGAS	41.914
	17	John McPhee	Honda
	52	Jeremy Alcoba	Honda
	31	Adrian Fernandez	Husqvarna
	12	Filip Salač	Honda
	43	Xavier Artigas	Honda
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