Race – Arenas and Nagashima, Moto3 and Moto2 Grand Prix winners in Qatar –

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Arenas and Nagashima, Moto3 and Moto2 Grand Prix winners in Qatar

Race - Arenas and Nagashima, Moto3 and Moto2 Grand Prix winners in Qatar -

The 2020 MotoGP Grand Prix kicked off this weekend in Qatar, but without the MotoGP category due to the coronavirus. Spaniard Albert Arenas and Japanese Tetsuta Nagashima start off this funny season with a bang by winning respectively in Moto3 and Moto2.

Strange atmosphere on the Losail circuit in Qatar where the opening of the 2020 Grands Prix was held this weekend: spectators were even rarer than usual while the boxes, the paddock and the hospitalities were occupied at the height of only a large third. The reason ? The absence of the MotoGP category, "" by the coronavirus !

  • MNC of March 5, 2020 : 
  • MNC of March 1, 2020 : 

Only the Moto3 and Moto2 races took place because the riders and teams were already there after testing. Also faced with the postponement of the GP of Thailand, the cracks of the premier category will have to wait until April 5 and the American Grand Prix to start hostilities….

Provided that the American ordeal is maintained: the United States continues to strengthen its measures to prevent the spread of "Covid-19", in particular concerning large gatherings. In Austin (Texas), where the race is to take place on the Circuit of The Americas (COTA), a major music festival was even canceled this weekend..

Another bad sign: the Italian government this Sunday placed in "imposed quarantine" a large part of the north of this country, the most affected by the coronavirus in Europe (366 deaths). The inhabitants of Lombardy, Venice, Parma, Modena or even Rimini must avoid any movement on and outside the territory until further notice…

  • MNC of March 6, 2020: 
  • MNC special file : 

No less than 15 million people are therefore placed under house arrest including Valentino Rossi, Andrea Dovizioso, Danilo Petrucci, Francesco Bagnaia and Franco Morbidelli who live in these so-called "red" areas. For lack of being able to leave their home, impossible to envisage a race !

Italy will however grant authorizations in case of "certified professional requirements": not sure however that these privileges apply to MotoGP riders, as well as to people working at the Italian headquarters of teams like Aprilia and Yamaha. Ducati, installed in Bologna, is for the moment not impacted by this strictly controlled confinement.

Moto3: 100th victory for KTM in speed

While waiting to be determined on the fate of the GP of the Americas and the hypothetical kick-off of MotoGP, the Moto3 and Moto2 riders put on a show in Qatar with close races and big firsts for some… 

 Race - Arenas and Nagashima, Moto3 and Moto2 Grand Prix winners in Qatar -

In Moto3, the race leader changed hands eight times as the battle raged until the last lap in a compact group of 19 riders! All this small world exceeded itself according to the aspirations in the long straight line of the circuit, without a competitor not really managing to escape..

Albert Arenas – from the Aspar team – however showed signs of superiority, notably by completing a total of nine laps in the lead, the most important of which: the last! The Spanish rider won by a very short header (53 thousandths!) Ahead of John McPhee and Ai Ogura, giving KTM its 100th victory in the Moto Speed ​​Grand Prix. The first was won in 2004 by a certain Casey Stoner in Malaysia.

The Austrian brand now has 64 successes in Moto3, 13 in 125 cc, 14 in Moto2, 9 in 250 cc and … 0 in MotoGP, the only category that resists it despite huge investments. And even if the RC16 seems to have progressed well this winter, MNC does not see Pol Espargaro or his new teammate Brad Binder taking down the timpani as a regular this season..

Top 10 of the Moto3 Grand Prix of Qatar

  1. Albert Arenas (Aspar Team Gaviota)
  2. John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing) – +0.053
  3. Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) – +0.344
  4. Jaume Masia (Leopard Racing) – +0.247
  5. Tatsuki Suzuki – (SIC58 Squadra Corse) – +0.789
  6. Gabriel Rodrigo (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) – +0.426
  7. Jeremy Alcoba (Kommerling Gresini Moto3) – +0.559
  8. Filip Salac (Rivacold Snipers Team) – +0.823
  9. Dennis Foggia – (Leopard Racing) – +0.964
  10. Raúl Fernández – (Red Bull KTM Ajo) – +0.834

Moto2: a beautiful tribute to Tomizawa

The Moto2 race crowned for the first time the Japanese rider Tetsuta Nagashima (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who made a spectacular comeback from his 14th place on the grid of the GP of Qatar! The No.45 mimics the performance of his late compatriot Shoya Tomizawa, who won the very first race of the Moto2 era on the same circuit in 2010….

“Shoya was like a brother to me,” Nagashima-san recalls fondly. "I started competing alongside him and he taught me a lot. I obviously remember his victory … I can’t believe that ten years later, I won my first victory on this same track".

However, the victory seemed promised to Luca Marini, who had taken control from the first corner and stood up without trembling to all his rivals. Valentino Rossi’s half-brother even picked up the pace at the halfway point … before seeing his front tire and pace suddenly collapse seven laps from the finish !

Worse still for the native of Urbino: his race ended on the mat after contact in the last corner with Jake Dixon, while he had dropped back to 13th place. Note that Marini is not the only one to have suffered from excessive degradation of its front tire, a new model that Dunlop released in Qatar..

Race - Arenas and Nagashima, Moto3 and Moto2 Grand Prix winners in Qatar -

Joe Roberts then Lorenzo Baldassari followed one another at the head of the race after Marini’s troubles … before being joined and overtaken by the "missile" Tetsuta Nagashima! The Japanese finally won his first Grand Prix success with 1.347 sec ahead of Baldassari and 1.428 sec over Bastianini.

The last Japanese victory in Grand Prix dates back to September 2019 with the San Marino Moto3 GP won by Tatsuki Suzuki. Tetsuta Nagashima also succeeds Takaaki Nakagami, author of the last Japanese success in the intermediate category at the 2017 British GP..

Top 10 of the Moto2 Grand Prix of Qatar

  1. Tetsuta Nagashima – (Red Bull KTM Ajo)
  2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP40) – +1.347
  3. Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing) – +1.428
  4. Joe Roberts – (American Racing) – +1.559
  5. Remy Gardner – (Onexox TKKR SAG Team) – +1.901
  6. Jorge Navarro – (Beta Tools Speed ​​Up) – +2.381
  7. Marcel Schrotter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) – +4.490
  8. Arón Canet – (Aspar Team) – +4.703
  9. Xavi Virgo – (Petronas Sprinta Racing) – +7.118
  10. Tom Luthi (Liqui Moly Intact GP) – +8.904

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