Race report
Moto3 Doha
Doha Moto3: KTM's Acosta charges from pitlane to win
Moto3 rookie Pedro Acosta claimed his maiden victory in a chaotic Doha Grand Prix having started from pitlane, the Ajo KTM rider fending off Darryn Binder by 0.039 seconds.
Lewis Duncan
Edited: Apr 4, 2021, 3:03 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
Acosta, along with six other riders, were slapped with pitlane starts for irresponsible riding in FP2 on Friday – but the Ajo KTM rookie carved through from nine seconds off the rest of the pack on lap one to score one of the most sensational wins in grand prix history.
Binder grabbed the holeshot off the line from sixth on the grid, the Petronas Sprinta Honda rider one of only a handful to gamble on the soft rear tyre.
In typical Moto3 fashion, the slipstream effect down the Losail circuit’s main straight meant the lead changed hands constantly as Binder shared first with the likes of Tatsuki Suzuki, Andrea Migno, Filip Salac, Gabriel Rodrigo, Jeremy Alcoba and Kaito Toba.
The lead group didn’t shrink as the race entered its later stages, where chaos ensued.
Binder was squeezed out wide by his teammate John McPhee at Turn 1 on lap 11, dropping the South Africa to 14th, while Alcoba engaged with Tech 3’s Ayumu Sasaki for the lead.
Andrea Migno blasted his Snipers Honda to the head of the pack at the start of the following tour, while teammate Salac’s race came to an end following contact with with Sasaki at Turn 2 on the next lap.
Drama struck at Turn 1 at the start of lap 15 when Gresini’s Alcoba clattered into the rear of Binder and was thrown off his Honda, the bike smacking a helpless McPhee and taking him out of the race.
The incident and McPhee’s violent outburst in the gravel afterwards is currently under investigation.
Qatar GP winner Jaume Masia emerged from the chaos of lap 15 to lead on the following tour, while teammate Acosta worked his way through the top 10 having started from the pitlane.
Acosta led over the line to start the final lap and tried to pull away from Binder behind, though the Petronas Sprinta rider reeled him back in come the end of the tour.
The 16-year-old rookie nailed his run out of the final corner and claimed his first grand prix victory by just 0.039s from Binder.
Niccolo Antonelli completed the top three on the Avintia KTM, pipping Migno and Toba, while Aspar GasGas rookie Izan Guevara recovered from a heavy fall in warm-up to finish sixth.
Sasaki slipped to seventh at the chequered flag, with Ryusei Yamanaka (Prustel GP) heading Masia after the Ajo rider had contact with Rodrigo on the last lap.
Max Racing’s Romano Fenati also came from pitlane to complete the top 10, while Rodrigo came away with 13th for Gresini after his clash with Masia.
Having served a double long lap penalty for a collision in the Qatar GP, Leopard rookie Xavi Artiga was taken down by Avintia’s Carlos Tatay late on.
Acosta now leads the championship by nine points over Binder heading to the Portuguese GP in two weeks’ time.
Race results:
Cla # Rider Bike Time 1 37 Pedro Acosta
KTM 2 40 Darryn Binder
Honda 0.039 3 23 Niccolo Antonelli
KTM 0.482 4 16 Andrea Migno
Honda 0.514 5 27 Kaito Toba
KTM 0.651 6 28 Izan Guevara
GASGAS 0.708 7 71 Ayumu Sasaki
KTM 1.805 8 6 Ryusei Yamanaka
KTM 1.857 9 5 Jaume Masia
KTM 1.875 10 55 Romano Fenati
Husqvarna 1.967 11 50 Jason Dupasquier
KTM 1.994 12 24 Tatsuki Suzuki
Honda 2.234 13 2 Gabriel Rodrigo
Honda 2.235 14 73 Maximilian Kofler
KTM 2.249 15 92 Yuki Kunii
Honda 2.260 16 82 Stefano Nepa
KTM 5.359 17 7 Dennis Foggia
Honda 11.052 18 53 Deniz Öncü
KTM 11.085 19 54 Riccardo Rossi
KTM 15.996 20 20 Lorenzo Fellon
Honda 17.130 21 99 Carlos Tatay
KTM 18.480 22 19 Andi Gilang
Honda 25.872 23 11 Sergio García
GASGAS 41.914 17 John McPhee
Honda 52 Jeremy Alcoba
Honda 31 Adrian Fernandez
Husqvarna 12 Filip Salač
Honda 43 Xavier Artigas
Honda View full results
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Seven riders hit with pitlane starts for irresponsible riding
Next article McPhee apologises for punch-up after Doha Moto3 crash
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Lewis Duncan
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
MotoGP
MotoGP
MotoGP 2025: Full rider line-up revealed
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
A year on from Marquez’s Germany MotoGP meltdown, has Honda improved?
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
MotoGP
MotoGP
German GP
What’s behind MotoGP’s right-hander chaos in Germany practice?
Latest news
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
11 min
Gibbs, Spire and Gabehart argue over contempt and injunction
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
47 min
William Byron to run Jeff Gordon throwback Axalta scheme at Phoenix
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
IndyCar
Indy IndyCar 1 h
Alexander Rossi takes over IR-28 testing as IndyCar pushes new chassis to the limit at Sebring
Daniel Suarez will return to Spire Motorsports for 2027 NASCAR Cup season
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Charlotte II
1 h
Daniel Suarez will return to Spire Motorsports for 2027 NASCAR Cup season
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe