Moto3 Qatar: Migno wins 2022 opener after heartbreak for Sasaki

There was drama before the first race of the season even got underway, as poleman Izan Guevara was sent to the back of the grid along with championship favourite Dennis Foggia and his Leopard team-mate Tatsuki Suzuki for irresponsible riding in qualifying.

They were all handed long lap penalties too, with Foggia forced to serve two during the race.

Aspar rider Guevara’s demotion promoted Sasaki to pole for his first start for the Max Racing Husqvarna squad and the Japanese rider converted that to the holeshot.

Sasaki – formerly with the now defunct Petronas SRT on a Honda alongside current Max Racing team-mate John McPhee – immediately built up a lead of almost a second by the second lap.

The Japanese rider, who was one of eight riders on the softer option rear Dunlop tyre, used the clean air in front of him and the squabbling of the group behind to pull away.

By lap eight of 18 Sasaki was 2.4s clear of the field and continued to open that advantage out to over three seconds by lap 10.

But heartbreak would strike on the following tour when Sasaki suffered a highside. Though he stayed on his bike, the moment broke the left fairing on his bike.

Ayumu Sasaki, Husqvarna Max Racing leads at the start

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

This caused dramatic handling problems and Sasaki’s lead was utterly decimated by lap 12, with the Snipers Honda of Migno taking the lead from him through the Turn 12 right-hander.

Sasaki would pull out due to the damage to his bike, leaving Migno to lead a battle for victory that featured Aspar’s Garcia on the GasGas, Tech3 KTM’s Deniz Oncu, Kaito Toba on the CIP KTM and McPhee.

Garcia had to serve a long lap penalty in the early stages after clattering into the side of Prustel GP rider Carlos Tatay at Turn 7 on the opening tour.

But the four-time race winner would brush this off to get into the lead battle come the closing stages.

With two laps to go, Migno repelled constant attacks on his lead using the straightline speed of his Honda and led the pack across the line to start the final tour.

As the final lap unfolded Migno and Garcia broke away from the rest to battle for the win, with the former holding on by 0.037s on the run to the line to secure his first Moto3 victory since Mugello 2017.

Toba completed the podium ahead of Oncu and McPhee, whose podium hopes wilted in the closing stages.

Brazilian rookie Diogo Moreira – who was tipped for Moto3 title success by MotoGP star Maverick Vinales earlier this week – completed the top six on his grand prix debut, the MT Helmets KTM rider beating the recovering Foggia by 0.470s.

Diogo Moreira, MT Helmets – MSI

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Guevara trailed Foggia home in eighth on his Aspar GasGas, with the sister MT Helmets KTM of Ryusei Yamanaka and Prustel GP’s Xavi Artigas on the CF Moto bike (a new manufacturer for 2022, but is essentially a badged KTM) rounding out the top 10.

The 2018 World Supersport 300 champion Ana Carrasco was 20th on her Moto3 return with the BOE SKX KTM squad, with Britain’s Josh Whatley last of the classified runners in 22nd on his and the VisionTrack Racing Honda team’s debut.

His team-mate Scott Ogden crashed out late on, while Ajo KTM’s Jaume Masia also fell in the closing laps while he was battling for the podium.

Moto3 Qatar Grand Prix - race results

Cla	Rider	Bike	Laps	Gap
1	Andrea Migno	Honda	18
2	Sergio García	GASGAS	18	0.037
3	Kaito Toba	KTM	18	0.573
4	Deniz Öncü	KTM	18	0.594
5	John McPhee	Husqvarna	18	1.064
6	Diogo Moreira	KTM	18	1.481
7	Dennis Foggia	Honda	18	1.951
8	Izan Guevara	GASGAS	18	2.545
9	Ryusei Yamanaka	KTM	18	2.742
10	Xavier Artigas	CF MOTO	18	6.055
11	Ivan Ortola	KTM	18	6.080
12	Riccardo Rossi	Honda	18	12.933
13	Stefano Nepa	KTM	18	12.974
14	Adrian Fernandez	KTM	18	12.989
15	Daniel Holgado	KTM	18	12.999
16	Joel Kelso	KTM	18	13.084
17	Matteo Bertelle	KTM	18	29.098
18	Elia Bartolini	KTM	18	29.128
19	Mario Aji	Honda	18	29.497
20	Ana Carrasco	KTM	18	43.108
21	Gerard Riu	KTM	18	47.964
22	Joshua Whatley	Honda	18	48.272
	Ayumu Sasaki	Husqvarna	12
	Jaume Masia	KTM	9
	Alberto Surra	Honda	9
	Scott Ogden	Honda	6
	Tatsuki Suzuki	Honda	3
	Carlos Tatay	CF MOTO	3
	Lorenzo Fellon	Honda	3
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