Kaito Toba became the first Japanese rider to win a race in the smallest class of Grand Prix racing since Tomoyoshi Koyama did so in Barcelona back in 2007, after winning the opening Moto3 race of the season in Qatar.
The 18-year-old started from the outside of the front row and remained prevalent throughout the race, putting himself in a fantastic position going into the final three laps, at the sharp end of a leading group of 13.
Toba slipstreamed and took the lead on the first corner of the final lap from Lorenzo Dalla Porta whose Leopard Honda was lightening fast down the start-finish straight. After swapping the lead three times through the final lap, it was Dalla Porta who was leading out of the final corner, just ahead of Toba and Aron Canet.
It wasn’t enough for the Italian, as Toba got a fantastic run and took the lead. Despite a late move to get back in the slipstream, it was Toba who held on over the line by 0.053, with pole sitter Canet in third position.
Marcos Ramirez was fourth on his Leopard, just pipping Sky VR46’s Celestino Vietti who was fifth. Albert Arenas was sixth on his Angel Nietto Aspar, just ahead of his team-mate Raul Fernandez and Nico Antonelli.
Romano Fenati was ninth on his return to the Grand Prix paddock but will be kicking himself after a blunder with four laps to go. The Italian had a warning come through on his dashboard regarding warning exceeding track limits. However, after a brain fart, Fenati thought that meant he was the first victim of the new ‘Joker Lane’ and took the penalty, demoting him to the back of the leading group.
Jakub Kornfiel rounded out the top ten, ahead of Ai Ogura, Alonso Lopez and John McPhee, who finished thirteenth, just 1.8 seconds off the win. Andrea Migno was fourteenth with the wounded Gabi Rodrigo rounding out the point scorers, less than a week after breaking his collarbone.
