Moto3: Foggia defeats Oncu on Aragon final lap as title contenders crash out

The 13th round of the 2021 Moto3 World Championship saw Darryn Binder start from pole position for the second time in 2021, at the Grand Prix of Aragon.

It was pole sitter Binder who made the holeshot ahead of Gabriel Rodrigo, but it was the Argentinian who led the opening lap having taken the lead into turn 16. 

Rodrigo’s time amongst the leaders was short-lived, however; indeed, his time in the race was not especially lengthy. Having lost the lead on lap three to Deniz Oncu, Rodrigo fell through the pack gradually to be outside the top 10 by lap four. On lap five, he was beginning to come back through the field when he crashed at turn 16, high siding out of contention. 

Rodrigo’s crash left Silverstone winner Romano Fenati with nowhere to go, except from into the gravel on the outside of turn 17. The Italian had been working his way forwards towards the front group until Rodrigo’s crash, but already, after just five laps, his chances of a podium were gone. 

Additionally, the crash of Rodrigo split the front group so that what was once a 14-rider lead pack was reduced to 11, with the two SIC58 Squadra Corse bikes of Lorenzo Fellon and Tatsuki Suzuki hanging on at the back. 

As the race approached half-distance, Deniz Oncu had established himself at the front, leading most of the race. From lap 10, the Turkish rider came under fire from the Leopard Honda pairing of Dennis Foggia and, in particular, Xavi Artigas, while the likes of Pedro Acosta, Izan Guevara and Sergio Garcia fought behind. 

It was the usual Moto3 dogfight, but for Oncu it must have been a frustrating experience. As much as he was able to pull away between turns one and 15, those behind were able to close back in with the slipstream between turns 15 and 16, and on the front straight towards turn one. 

On lap 16 one of Oncu’s strongest rivals for this race was removed from contention. In this case, it was a rare mistake from Pedro Acosta, who was trying to pass Xavi Artigas into turn five. Acosta had the inside line, but he was too fast in the entry, and folded the front while trailing the brake into the corner. It was unfortunate for Artigas, because he was caught on the outside with nowhere to go, and for his best performance of the season, he had nothing to show. The #43 had given Acosta room, but the World Championship leader made a critical error, at the expense of both himself and Artigas.  

The crash of Acosta left him with no options to rejoin the race, so he was guaranteed from that moment to not score a point for the first time in 2021. His championship rivals, then – primarily Sergio Garcia – had a big opportunity in MotorLand to close their deficit to Acosta. 

However, Garcia made a mistake of his own, crashing at turn 12 on the final lap while fighting for the podium. It was a mistake that no doubt the Spaniard will regret in the coming days, as he will have done it with the knowledge that the championship leader would not be scoring points, and he could have significantly improved his own points situation. 

With Garcia down, and Fenati out of contention thanks to the crash of Rodrigo, Acosta’s only major problem in terms of points would be Dennis Foggia from the point of just five corners to go in the Grand Prix of Aragon. The Italian led onto the final lap, but Oncu passed him going into turn five. It was a move which the Turkish rider was on the limit to make, with both front and rear tyres sliding on entry, but the #53 got it stopped and held the lead. 

Oncu was able to establish himself a small advantage before they arrived at the straight, and by the time they arrived at turn 15 only Foggia remained in contention for the victory. Despite Oncu’s best efforts, he was unable to defend against the speed of Foggia’s Leopard Honda in the straight, and the Italian took the inside line into turn 16, held it through turn 17 and got a good enough drive on the exit to hold the lead to the line. It was a brilliant win for Foggia, his third of the season, and a potentially crucial one for the championship, in which he sits 58 points behind Pedro Acosta with five races to go. 

Deniz Oncu was once again left disappointed. As in Styria, the Tech3 KTM rider left for most of the race, set the pace and proved himself to be strong on the brakes and in the battle. But he was beaten in the final lap, also as in Styria, and his wait for a first win goes on. No doubt, though, that the first win is on its way – it seems only a matter of time. 

Ayumu Sasaki took advantage of Sergio Garcia’s last lap crash to lead the battle for third place into the back straight for the final time and, unlike his teammate, he was able to exit the straight in the same position as he entered, and he was able to ensure a double podium for the Tech3 team. 

Izan Guevara took a third, fourth place in succession, just missing out on the podium at the end. But the form of the #28 remains impressive, and surely the first podium is not too far away. 

Behind Guevara was Niccolo Antonelli, who lost out to the GASGAS rider in the final corner while Sasaki escaped with the podium. It was another strong ride  from the Italian, who is still not fully recovered from the injury he rode with to second place in Silverstone. 

While Antonelli completed the top five, Andrea Migno took his first finish in six races in sixth place, ahead of Darryn Binder, Stefano Nepa, Tatsuki Suzuki and Jaume Masia who completed the top 10. 

Ryusei Yamanaka was 11th, ahead of Adrian Fernandez and Syarifuddin Azman, who was 13th on his Grand Prix debut. After the disruption of Rodrigo, Romano Fenati could recover no further than 14th, while Riccardo Rossi took 15th place and the final point. 

Kaito Toba missed out on points in 16th, finishing ahead of Yuki Kunii, the remounted Sergio Garcia, Maximilian Kofler and Andi Izdihar who completed the top 20. Alberto Surra finished 21st and last on his first trip to Aragon. 

Both Jeremy Alcoba and Lorenzo Fellon crashed on the final lap, which was a shame in particular for Fellon who had been running in the front group before a long lap penalty for track limits detached him.