2022 Sachsenring Moto3 Race Result: Atypical But Not Unexpected

A scorching Sachsenring set the scene for the lightweight class kerfuffle, but the battle for victory ended up being both unusually uneventful and predictably secured by Izan Guevara, the poleman maintaining the impressive pace he showed throughout the weekend to run away at the front of the field. The Spaniard took the chequered flag five seconds ahead of his pursuers and secured back-to-back victories to solidify his title bid. The likes of Dennis Foggia and Sergio Garcia could not match their rival’s pace and waited until the final lap to decide the remaining podium positions, with Foggia declining Garcia’s advances at the final corner to keep second position, while Garcia limited the damage in the world championship with a third place.

Guevara was untouchable from the very beginning, making a great launch from pole to lead ahead of the Leopard Racing duo of Foggia and Tatsuki Suzuki. Rookies David Muñoz and Dani Holgado kept Garcia company right behind, while a bit of early chaos was unfolding behind them, with an overly enthusiastic Carlos Tatay taking Riccardo Rossi and John McPhee out of contention at turn one, Ryusei Yamanaka serving a long lap penalty before being sent into the gravel by Deniz Öncü, who in turn got a double long lap penalty for a jump start, followed by a crash for Matteo Bertelle and Scott Ogden at turn seven, drastically reducing the numbers in the main pack. Meanwhile, Jaume Masia was aiming for a comeback from his qualifying misfortune and was threatening the top 10 after the first few laps.

Back at the front, things were going to plan for Guevara, the poleman managing an early gap of half a second, while the Leopard boys were being challenged by Holgado, Garcia and Sasaki. Muñoz and Kelso were pushing to catch up with the leading group but a mysterious lap seven saw the Australian sliding into the gravel trap and the Spaniard quickly lose significant ground and drop into a second group led by Masia and Öncü, almost four seconds behind the leaders.

While Guevara grew his gap to one full second by lap 10, teammate Garcia and rival Foggia were particularly eager to get to the front of the pursuit, but with the threat of track limits warnings already. Although the chasing group didn’t disturb each other too much, their pace was no match for the runaway poleman, who continued to add tenths of a second to his already significant advantage.

By the halfway point of proceedings, Guevara was 1.5 seconds ahead of the pursuit led by Foggia and although the Italian started stringing together red sector times, that gap resisted, and it seemed like the focus would soon switch to defending second from the strong group including Garcia, Sasaki, Suzuki and Holgado. Seven seconds down the road, Öncü was fending off teammate Adrian Fernandez for seventh position, with Masia and Muñoz duelling for ninth.

With nine laps to go, Guevara’s lead had expanded to three seconds, with no significant moves made yet in the group of podium contenders, who were seemingly biding their time until the final few laps. Garcia made some tentative approaches on Foggia with three laps remaining and although an overtake was still pending, the duo had steadily stretched a gap over Sasaki, Suzuki and Holgado for the final few laps.

While Guevara was already celebrating victory, Garcia attacked Foggia at the final corner but the Italian swept back past to keep second. Although he faded from the podium battle over the final couple of laps, fourth place was still an impressive comeback for Sasaki, while compatriot Suzuki completed the top five. Rookie Holgado took sixth place ahead of Öncü and Fernandez, with Muñoz and fellow rookie Ivan Ortolá completing the top 10, after mistakes from Masia dropped him down the timesheets late on.

Although Garcia continues to lead the championship battle, teammate Guevara closes in to only seven points, with Foggia 51 points behind.

Results: