Moto3: Aragon GP Preview: Championship door still wide open

The 2018 Moto3 World Champion has been thrilling right from the first race of the season in Qatar, with Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi trading paint as the season has wore on. Now, with just six races left to go, there are eight points separating them at the top, with Bezzecchi trailing Martin after the Italian made an unforced error with a lap to go at home in Misano. The chasing pack will also fancy their chances, with Fabio Di Giannantonio, Enea Bastianini, Aron Canet and Gabriel Rodrigo all still in with a slim chance of the title.

Jorge Martin has taken nine poles prior to race day at Aragon and leads the championship by a slender eight points over Bezzecchi. Martin has been in fine form in 2018 but hasn’t won a race since the Sachsenring – before the summer break. Martin’s Aragon form is good, with improvements every year at the circuit on race day. A 7th in his first year and a 4th last year, Martin is yet to mount the podium – but if he does, you’d be a fool too bet against it being the top step.

Marco Bezzecchi’s season unravelled slightly at Misano, when he looked in control to take his third race win of the season. A real surprise as far as a championship contender goes, Bezzecchi has been something of a revelation and has more than held his own in combat with more established stars. Bezzecchi has never had back-to-back DNFs but he has never scored points at Aragon before. In only his second full-season of GP racing, to even be considering the championship is an achievement on it’s own.

Fabio Di Giannantonio came so close to a second career victory last time out at Misano, dive-bombing eventual race winner Lorenzo Dalla Porta at the final corner on the last lap, only to lose out on the run to the line. The Gresini Honda ace has never been lower than 4th at Aragon and just 0.043 from winning at the track last year when he was 2nd. Still in with a mathematical – and quite realistic – championship chance, sat just 29 points from his teammate at the top, who’d bet against the Moto3 championship pendulum swinging into the Roman’s favour.

Aron Canet sits in 4th place and after a disaster at Misano where he failed to finish, he will be eager to reignite his championship charge and take his first win of the season at Aragon – a circuit at which he’s been 7th and 5th in the last two seasons. With a 48 point gap to the championship lead and just 19 between him and Di Giannantonio ahead, a win for Canet could bring him back into play this year and that’d be perfect timing before the new Thai Grand Prix, a track where he may well be more in with a chance due to it being totally neutral to everyone.

Enea Bastianini being wiped out of contention at Misano was a real blow to his championship, something the veteran Moto3 rider could’ve really done without. However, he is another rider who is seemingly able to ghost his way up the order and pull a result out of the bag on race day. 49 points behind the championship lead, the same rules that apply to Canet also apply to ‘Bestia’. A win gets his title charge back on track whereas a sluggish result or DNF firmly ends it for yet another year. A 3rd at Aragon in 2017 and 2016 as well as poles in 2015 and 2016 make Bastianini a favourite. Could his championship challenge spark back into life this weekend?

Argentina’s Gabriel Rodrigo has been a joy to watch this year, as he’s made several steps towards becoming the more complete and threatening rider. Besides Di Giannantonio, he is the only other top-six rider to have finished in all but two races, although he still chases his first win of his career. With a fastest lap at Aragon and finishing no lower than 8th since the second half of the season got underway, Rodrigo could be a threat on Sunday. He was 8th in Aragon in 2016 but crashed out last year. Could he be a fly in the ointment again come Sunday’s slipstreaming bonanza?

There’s always a large gaggle of bikes together at the front in Moto3, with Jakub Kornfeil lying 7th in the championship a firm favourite to pull off a decent result. Jaume Masia could well do the same and take his first podium whilst you’d be silly to discount Misano race winner Lorenzo Dalla Porta too. It really is a lottery in Moto3, the main thing that makes it the perfect curtain-raiser on a Sunday morning!