Jerez Moto3: Oettl wins as Canet takes out Martin

Canet lost control of his bike into the Dry Sac right-hander, causing a pile-up and leaving KTM rider Oettl with a clear run to his first Moto3 victory in his 91st start in the category.

Starting from pole position, Martin led the way off the line and held off the early pressure from Gresini Honda teammate Fabio Di Giannantonio.

He briefly managed to put some daylight between himself and his rivals, but was soon reeled in by Di Giannantonio – who attempted a pass down the inside of Dry Sac but ran wide, compromising both himself and Martin.

This kicked off a flurry of lead changes, with Enea Bastianini, Marco Bezzecchi, Martin, Tony Arbolino and Oettl taking turns leading what was an 18-bike front group.

As the race approached and passed the halfway point, Oettl managed to consolidate first place and pull out a minor gap – but it was not for too long, as Arbolino picked off the German with eight laps to run.

Oettl reclaimed the spot a lap later and then fought off a final-corner Martin attack, only to be swarmed by Bastianini and Arbolino next time by.

By that point, the lead group had whittled down to six riders – and soon only Oettl and Bezzecchi were left on their bikes.

Having got a big tow on the back straight, Canet was too hot coming into the Turn 6 right-hander and clobbered his rival Martin, with the crash eliminating Bastianini and Arbolino as well.

The incident left Oettl with an advantage out front, and while Bezzecchi closed in on the German and harried him all through the final lap, he finally settled for second place – and became the new championship leader.

Rookie Alonso Lopez ran up front early on but dropped back after an early run-in with Oettl forced him into a trip through the gravel.

He recovered to third place on the road, but was then forced to drop a position due to exceeding track limits, with Marcos Ramirez inheriting the podium spot instead.

Behind Lopez, compatriot and fellow rookie Jaume Masia likewise recorded his best Moto3 finish in fifth, followed by Tatsuki Suzuki, Di Giannantonio and Jakub Kornfeil.

The Canet incident was not the only major chain reaction crash of the race, as John McPhee had triggered a pile-up when he ran into the back of Lorenzo Dalla Porta on the opening lap – with Dennis Foggia eliminated as a result as well.

Race results

Cla	#	Rider	Bike	Laps	Time	Gap
1	65	Philipp Ottl	KTM	22	39'39.799
2	12	Marco Bezzecchi	KTM	22	39'39.858	0.059
3	42	Marcos Ramirez	KTM	22	39'43.532	3.733
4	72	Alonso Lopez	Honda	22	39'43.314	3.515
5	5	Jaume Masia	KTM	22	39'43.757	3.958
6	24	Tatsuki Suzuki	Honda	22	39'43.799	4.000
7	21	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Honda	22	39'43.832	4.033
8	84	Jakub Kornfeil	KTM	22	39'43.960	4.161
9	27	Kaito Toba	Honda	22	39'43.970	4.171
10	19	Gabriel Rodrigo	KTM	22	39'44.015	4.216
11	23	Niccolo Antonelli	Honda	22	39'43.975	4.176
12	71	Ayumu Sasaki	Honda	22	39'44.063	4.264
13	16	Andrea Migno	KTM	22	39'47.965	8.166
14	76	Makar Yurchenko	KTM	22	39'48.181	8.382
15	32	Ai Ogura	Honda	22	40'07.096	27.297
16	7	Adam Norrodin	Honda	22	40'07.145	27.346
17	8	Nicolo Bulega	KTM	22	40'07.373	27.574
18	11	Livio Loi	KTM	22	40'07.398	27.599
19	41	Nakarin Atiratphuvapat	Honda	22	40'07.594	27.795
20	22	Kazuki Mazaki	KTM	22	40'16.841	37.042
	33	Enea Bastianini	Honda	18	32'27.862	4 laps
	14	Tony Arbolino	Honda	18	32'28.018	4 laps
	88	Jorge Martin	Honda	18	32'28.240	4 laps
	44	Aron Canet	Honda	18	32'28.301	4 laps
	75	Albert Arenas	KTM	13	25'40.159	9 laps
	48	Lorenzo Dalla Porta	Honda	0
	10	Dennis Foggia	KTM	0
	17	John McPhee	KTM	0
	52	Jeremy Alcoba	Honda	0