Indonesian Moto3: Maiden win for Moreira in penalty fuelled race

Diogo Moreira kept his head to take his first victory in the Indonesian Moto3 Grand Prix after a chaotic final lap.

15 Oct 2023

Diogo Moreira, Moto3 race, Indonesian MotoGP, 15 October

The whole race at the Pertamina Manalika track was characterised by the moves every lap through the turn six and seven section with several riders venturing off track to gain an advantage in round fifteen of the Moto3 championship.

The MT Helmets - MSI rider had started from pole but it was pretty academic as he, like most, held just about every position in the lead group.

Hard move after hard move came as the gloves were truly off, with the last lap chaos seeing Moreira start it leading, only to be swiftly passed by Daniel Holgado.

The final corner saw Brazil’s Moreira able to take advantage, clear of most if the antics to lead over the line on his KTM. He appeared to hit the green once more earlier in the lap but was careful to drop back before a final attack so skipped any post-race penalties.

Moreira is Brazil’s first winner in the paddock since Alex Barros back in 2005.

Rookie David Alonso saw a shot at the win, but he was embroiled in a battle for position with David Munoz. The Gaviota GasGas rider stuck his bike up the inside, avoiding contact and securing second, just 0.167s behind after his late lunge.

Munoz completed the podium for BOE Motorsports, his second rostrum visit of the year in a season where it has been hard to get past the title leaders to feature - with all three absent this time out.

Colin Veijer was a regular feature at the front, with his earlier, spectacluar move taking two riders at once to move into the rostrum slots soon wiped out in the wild end to the race. The rider from the Netherlands just missed out in fourth.

Jose Antonio Rueda was in the group which had lost touch but a mix of Taiyo Furusato reeling the front six back in, coupled with the hard passing out front brought several riders back into play. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider made the best recovery for fifth.

Masia best of the title rivals in sixth

Championship leader Jaume Masia had a stint out front before the fiery last few laps. The Leopard rider gave the win a shot, but you could feel an air of caution to ensure he wasn’t unseated in the bumping and barging, and sixth was enough to retain the title lead for the Spaniard and increase his margin out front.

Furusato finished seventh after rejoining the front group for Honda Team Asia, his best race finish to date.

Deniz Oncu came back through with the chasing group after too losing contact, for eighth on his Red Bull KTM Ajo bike.

Penalties shape Holgado’s race

Daniel Holgado lead the way when he was handed his first long lap penalty for using track limits in the most blatant way to get there. He took his cue from Moreira, who had run out on the green to hit the front ahead of him, but the Red Bull KTM Tech3 riders move was much more obvious - using all the tarmac the other side of the green.

In ninth as he crossed the line, the title hopeful had already been handed another penalty for a further transgression as he battled for the win, but chose to finish the race, so a three second time penalty was added. That dropped him to 14th.

Ivan Ortola, who had his own double lap to complete for a jump start, was elevated to ninth for the Angeluss team, with teammate Stefano Nepa completing the top ten after his own trip around the loop for crashing under yellow flags in practice.

Matteo Bertelle saw his comeback ride bring him up to eleventh for the Snipers team, just ahead of Kaito Toba, who pushed his way back into the points places for SIC58 Squadra Corse in twelfth.

The remaining points on offer went to his teammate Riccardo Rossi in 13th, a demoted Holgado in 14th and Ryusei Yamanaka in 15th on the second GasGas Aspar bike.

Joel Kelso just missed out for CFMoto in 16th , while Honda Team Asia’s local wildcard Arbi Aditama gave a great account of what he is capable of on his debut, as high as twelfth in the race, he finished 17th.

Drama for Sasaki from the sighting lap

The sighting lap saw Ayumu Sasaki crash heavily despite all his experience. Back on the grid his leathers were worse for wear, with his mechanics attempting to tape them up.

A change of gear came, but he did not have another pair of gloves that he’d bedded in. It was good friend Jake Dixon to the rescue, running in to give the Japanese rider his as they use the same kind.

Unready for the lights, and seemingly not in gear, the Japanese rider got away stone dead last. Working his way back, Sasaki could only get to 18th , with several riders serving penalties finishing ahead after a disastrous Indonesian round.

Crashes, injuries and replacements

Joshua Whatley was the best of the VisionTrack riders in 22nd after Scott Ogden was the last rider to crash out.

Adrian Fernandez, and Ana Carrasco also failed to finish, with Carrasco’s crash seeing her taken to the medical centre for further checks after the spill at turn 10 saw her land heavily on her back.

Injuries and Replacements

Tatsuki Suzuki is replaced by faller Fernandez at Leopard, who takes the ride full-time in 2024.

Romano Fenati remains on the injury list, joined by his last replacement, David Almansa. Nicola Carraro (21st), was next in at Snipers for this round.

David Salvador remains absent. Swiss rider Noah Dettwiller (26th) was in at CIP Green Power.