Suzuki sails to victory in rain-soaked stunner

As ever Moto3™ was the perfect start to Sunday's racing action, with incredible blink-and-you-miss-it racing kicking off the day's billing. It was utter domination from Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing) who flew his way to the front and took victory at the rain-soaked Gran Premio Michelin® de la República Argentina by 4.571s. It was drama right until the final moments in Moto3™ which saw Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets - MSI) win an incredible scrap for 2nd place as he fended off Andrea Migno (CIP GreenPower) to the line.

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Tensions were high on the grid for the Moto3™ Grand Prix as the riders were headed for the unknown. The track was completely wet as the riders completed their warm-up lap, with the weather remaining cloudy but with no rain.

The lights went out and it was a strong start for the poleman Sasaki before he ran wide at Turn 1 allowing Moreira through to the lead and dropping down the order. It was a typical Moto3™ first lap as the riders scrapped for position, swapping and changing from corner to corner as the paddock held their breath.

Deniz Öncü (Red Bull KTM Ajo) got his elbows out on lap one, making big moves onboard his KTM machine to muscle his way to the front. The Turk knew he had strong wet weather pace and wanted to try to pull away. Two laps down and Öncü did begin to pull away, stretching out a half-a-second lead. Half a lap later and it was too much too soon for Deniz Öncü as the Red Bull KTM man went down and out of Grand Prix, gifting the race lead to Tastuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing).

Meanwhile, David Almansa (CFMOTO Racing Pruestel GP) was making moves as the Joel Kelso stand-in carved his way through to podium contention. 14 laps to go and Almansa was up to 2nd place faced with a 1.2s gap to the leader Suzuki. One lap later and it was the championship favourite of Ayumu Sasaki who muscled his way to lead the freight train of riders battling for P2.

Whilst the battle for 2nd took chunks out of each other, Suzuki was making an escape out front, setting fastest lap after fastest lap and stretching out a commanding lead, and going on to control the race from the front and take victory in Argentina.

The battle 2nd continued raging on as Sasaki was forced to drop a position following a penalty due to contact made with Almansa early on. Sasaki dropped his position, and quickly pushed his way back to the front of the group.

Eight laps to go and Sasaki gave it everything to break away from the group, but the Japanese rider was a little too eager on the throttle coming out of the final corner, and his Husqvarna machine wasn't having any of it as it spat the 'Crazy Boy' over the handlebars and out of the Argentina Grand Prix.

This left the likes of Masia, Alamna, Artigas, and the chasing pack to scrap it out of P2. With seven laps to go, Masia began to break away from the group, leaving the rest behind him to scrap it out for P3. Just as we thought we'd seen all the drama, Masia was punished by a tiny error and crashed out 2nd place with his weekend ending in the gravel trap. This promoted Artigas to 2nd place but the CFMoto man also fell victim to the conditions crashing out at the final corner with Muñoz going down in tandem just behind him.

It was now Almansa who took hold of the group with Moreira shadowing his every move. Three laps to go and Moreira fired his way up the inside of Almansa, leading a six-bike battle for 2nd place. One lap later and Migno was looking menacing, trying to bully his way past the rookie Almansa. The Spaniard responded making his way to the front of the group and dragging Migno with him. Migno then muscled his way past Almansa and led the way onto the final lap.

This left Moreira in the lead of the group as the Brazilian fended off Migno to the chequered flag. Riccardo Rossi was doing everything he could to fight his way onto the podium but crashed out at the final corner leaving Moreira and Migno to pick up the scraps in 2nd and 3rd. Scott Ogden crossed the line in 4th place but took a career-best finish in 5th following a six-second penalty due to the incident with Almansa.

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This left Moreira in the lead of the group as the Brazilian fended off Migno to the chequered flag. Riccardo Rossi was doing everything he could to fight his way onto the podium but crashed out at the final corner leaving Moreira and Migno to pick up the scraps in 2nd and 3rd. Scott Ogden crossed the line in 4th place but took a career-best finish in 5th following a six-second penalty due to the incident with Almansa.

Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) was promoted to 4th spot after Ogden's with the Spaniard maintaining his championship lead by 2 points ahead of Moreira. 

Top 10:
1. Tatsuki Suzuki (Leopard Racing)
2. Diogo Moreira (MT Helmets – MSI) + 4.571
3. Andrea Migno (CIP Green Power) + 4.699
4. Daniel Holgado (Red Bull KTM Tech3) + 8.814
5. Scott Ogden (VisionTrack Racing Team) + 11.512*
6. Stefano Nepa (Angeluss MTA Team) + 11.865
7. Kaito Toba (SIC58 Squadra Corse) + 12.159
8. Xavier Artigas (CFMOTO Racing PrüstelGP) + 12.467
9. Ryusei Yamanaka (Autosolar GASGAS Aspar Team) + 12.844
10. David Salvador (CIP Green Power) + 12.844
*6-second penalty