Daniel Holgado snatched a third Moto3 win of 2023 on the dash to the line at Mugello from runaway pole-man Deniz Oncu to further extend his championship advantage.
The KTM Tech 3 racer was a permanent fixture of the leading pack across the entirety of the 17-lap battle, the blistering speed of Oncu as well as Husqvarna’s Ayumi Sasaki pulling the quintet well clear of the intense tussle for sixth.
Oncu looked to be the quickest of the bunch over the lap as he continuously pulled out a lead through the twisties, though a lack of straight-line performance saw him consistently drop back through the pack.
As the final tour got underway Sasaki managed to hold the leadership ahead of Holgado and Oncu, the Japanese racer keeping his machine out front until Holgado pulled a bold move at Turn 3 to secure the lead before Oncu followed through soon after.
Desperate for a maiden series win, Oncu swiftly dived through on Holgado at the breathtaking Turn 9 of Arribbiata 2 to try and pull out enough of a lead to hold his advantage to the chequered flag.
Holgado remained well within range of the slipstream though and secured the perfect slingshot from the final bend to draft past and rip away glory from his fellow KTM junior pilot and secure his third win from the opening six races, with Oncu coming home second just 0.051s adrift.
Sasaki narrowly missed out on snatching away the runners-up result from the Turk to complete the rostrum positions, while GasGas’ David Alonso managed to get the better of Leopard Racing’s Jaume Masia for fourth on the very final circulation.
Moto3 rookie Collin Veijer impressed to secure his first ever top ten result in sixth on the sister Husqvarna entry as he headed Diogo Moreira – the MT Helmets rider forced to start from the back of the field as well as serve a long lap penalty for riding on the racing line during practice – and Ricardo Rossi.
Stefano Nepa claimed ninth on his Angeluss MTA-run KTM, while Kaito Toba ensured both SIC58 machines secured top ten finishes at the squad’s home encounter.
Ivan Ortola – who had to serve an identical penalty to Moreira for the same infringement – managed to recover to 11th, though drops to third from second in the overall standings behind Masia as a result.
Holgado now leads the way in the rider’s points by a stiff 36 ahead of Masia, with Ortola a further six adrift heading into next weekend’s contest at the Sachsenring in Germany.
