Jaume Masia claimed an emphatic 1-2 victory for the Ajo KTM squad in the Moto3 season opening Qatar Grand Prix ahead of team-mate Pedro Acosta.
Masia remained firmly entrenched within the leading group of 14 riders across the 18 lap contest having started the event fifth on the grid, though he was lucky to survive to the end after being hit from behind by Gabriel Rodrigo into Turn 6 at around two-thirds distance as the Argentinean ran wide, Masia continuing in third.
A strong headwind that greeted the riders on the start/finish straight saw positions change almost by the meter every lap, the Spaniard flying past then leader Niccollo Antonelli on the run to the first turn at the start of the final tour.
Rookie team-mate Acosta followed his squad leader through into second ahead of pole-man Darryn Binder, the trio making a gap to fourth-placed Sergio Garcia as they looked to decide glory between themselves.
Binder managed to close onto the rear wheels of the leading Ajo machines heading into the final few corners, though ultimately neither he nor Acosta were able to draft past Masia on the run to the chequered flag, gifting the latter the full 25 points for victory.
Acosta crossed the line a gutting 0.042 down on a maiden win on his lightweight class debut, while Binder completed the podium also less than a tenth behind the Masia.
Garcia took fourth ahead of a recovering Rodrigo, while Antonelli found himself shuffled back to sixth just clear of another impressive rookie in the shape of Izan Guevara on his Gas Gas bike.
Kajto Toba led the way during the mid-part of the encounter but ultimately found himself dropping to eighth by the flag, while Tatsuki Suzuki recovered from 28th after not setting a time in qualifying to ninth just ahead of Jason Depasquier.
Carlos Tatay and Romano Fenati meanwhile staged decent recovery rides after receiving early penalties, the former having to serve a long-lap due to irresponsible riding while the latter had to swallow a double long-lap punishment after jumping the start, the pair taking the chequered flag 11th and 12th respectively.
Pre-season title contender Dennis Foggia found himself out of the race after being taken out by the afore-mentioned Tatay on the opening tour at Turn 3, while Deniz Oncu suffered a spill at Turn 6 just moments later on his way to a lowly 20th finishing position.
John McPhee was another victim of the Qatar GP after being taken down by a rather optimistic overtake by Leopard Racing’s Xavier Artigas.
Artigas attempted to slide down the inside of three bikes on the inside dirty line at Turn 6 just a few tours into the event, skittling into the side of Jeremy Alcoba and then into McPhee and Andrea Migno as a result and eliminating all four from the race.
Ayami Sasaki was another high-profile crasher, the Japanese ace going down from third on the last lap while running just ahead of Binder’s Petronas SRT Honda machine.
