Portimao Moto3: Race belongs to Fernandez, Arenas takes title from twelfth

An incredibly tight battle behind let Raul Fernandez escape, while the title went all the way to the line with Albert Arenas crowned champion at the Moto3 Portuguese Grand Prix.
Albert Arenas, Moto3 race, Portuguese MotoGP, 22st November 2020
Albert Arenas, Moto3 race, Portuguese MotoGP, 22st November 2020
© Gold and Goose

Raul Fernandez had a runaway victory at the front of the Moto3 Portuguese Grand Prix asꦡ the title battle raged behind with Albert Arenas taking the world𝓀 championship crown from twelfth.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider started from pole, enjoyed a lead of almost ten seconds before easing off in the closing laps to lead over the li🐽ne by 5.810s for his second win of the season.

Dennis Foggia claimed second despite needing to🅺 serve a double long lap penalty along with team-mate J༒aume Masia in the race on his Honda for Leopard.

Jeremy Alcoba, already rookie of the season heading into Portimao, claimed his f🔥irst podium finish after sitting in second for much of the race for Kommerling Gresini.

The battle for the champi𝐆onship may not have featured a podium finish but was equally as exciting as the action ahead.

Albert Arenas came intဣo the race with the advantage and initially featured at the front chasing down ♔Fernandez. 

The Gaviota 🐼Aspar rider did not have things easy as he lined up with rival Ai Ogura on the grid, with Tony Arbolino a distant 27th.

He was handed early competition from the Leopard pair before they ducked in to begin their penalties and Ogura made it his busines🐟s to stay ahead of the Spaniard.

Arbolino❀, who missed a round after travelling on a plane with a Coronavirus case, pulled his Rivacold Snipers bike up ten places in just🎉 over a lap and soon arrived in the frantic lead group all battling away behind Fernandez.

There was contact between himself and Arena🉐s as they ran a truly fiesty, competitive race.

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Arenas still needed to survive a late track limits warning and run out on the green on the final lap, where he lost places on his way&nb♛sp;to finish the season Moto3 Champion.He celebrated with an ice cream stand on track.

Abolino made up some extra positions after🐷 late falls for Tatsuki Suzuki and Jaume M♕asia , but couldn’t quite catch Sergio Garcia (Estrella Galicia 0,0) who finished fourth, leaving the Italian fifth and four points short of Arenas.

Ogura faded slightly before getting a second wind and climbing back to eighth fo𒆙r Honda Team Asia, also 𒐪four points off in the race to the crown.

Ahead o💎f the Japanese rider to the line were Darryn Binder, making up the places from 18th on the grid to sixth for CIP Green Power. Celestino Vietti (Sky Racing Team VR46) started a slightly better 14th only to immediately drop out of the points places, he fought back for seventh.

Itജ was a busy race for riders powering through the pack once in the rammed chasing group - Petronas Sprinta rider John McPhee finished his first ever race around the Algarve circuit in ninth, passing Denis Oncu (Red Bull KTM Tech 3, 10th) and Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse, 11th) in the closing stages.

Arenas was raced down to twelfth and last in that group in the run to the line, with Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull💝 KTM Tech 3), Carlos Tatay (Reale Avintia) and Kaito Toba (Red Bull KTM Ajo) next to find the flag to compelte the points places.

After 🅷spending the weekend learning the track behind his race winning broth🦹er Adrian Fernandez, in for the injured Filip Salac at Rivacold Snipers finished 18th on his debut.

There was drama for Gabriel Rodrigo before the race had even st🌃arted. His bike wouldn’t start on the warm-up lap, he finished 27th.

Alonso Lopez crashed out after an eventful race, the Spaniard had a pen💖alty heading into the race, which he served early on, then was handed a track limits warning and further long lap penalty before he crashed out with seven laps remaining.

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