Valencia Moto3: Guevara completes championship winning season with victory

Izan Guevara controlled the final race of the season in the same way he mastered the championship, then saw off a final lunge from Deniz Oncu to win the Moto3 Valencia Grand Prix.

The Gaviota Gas Gas rider started the race from pole, got a great start and had superior race pace, with only Oncu able to go with him.

The Turkish rider kept on his tail for the whole race, right on his back wheel.

The race was decided on the final lap, with the #53 giving the impression he favoured the final corner for his move, Oncu instead went for surprise and made his move at turn eight.

The Red Bull KTM Tech3 rider went wide and somehow managed to ride around the outside to take the lead.

Deniz Oncu showed he was in the hunt for an elusive first Moto3 win after topping warm-up, but it was not to be, wide again in the run to the line, Guevara did not need to be invited twice and he slipsteamed ahead to take his seventh win of the season, including all the Spanish rounds.

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Oncu threw everything at the race ,setting a new best race lap to keep in contention, but came up just 0.062s behind for his fourth second place finish.

Though the title race was decided back in Australia, the battle for second has not let up, providing action and drama all the way to the final chequered flag for Moto3 in 2022.

Sergio Garcia initially had Ivan Ortola (Angeluss MTA Team) for company , but when he headed back into the pack that left the second GasGas rider a lonely third, crossing the line six seconds later for his tenth podium visit.

The train forfourth arrived together, with Dennis Foggia forcing his way to the front of the pack in the closing stages as he battled for championship position on the Leopard to be the top Honda in the race.

Sterilgarda Husqvarna Max rider Ayumu Sasaki, also in with a shout of a third place finish coming into the race, saw his weekend get off to a shaky start before coming through Q1 for fifth on the grid. 

The Japanese rider was ahead of the Italian for most of the duration but ended up behind when movement finally came in the closing stages of a fairly static race, in fifth.

Adrian Fernandez blitzed his way thorugh the pack to climb from 24th on the grid to finish an impressive sixth at the chequred flag on the second Tech3 entry.

David Munoz was the best of the rookies in the race in seventh for BOE Motorsports, ahead of Diogo Moreira , who was eighth for MT Helmets - MSI after a trip around the long lap loop taken early - that was awarded for crashing right after Munoz in the same corner under waved yellow flags in practice.

Ryusei Yamanka was ninth behind his team-mate, while another rookie, Daniel Holgado, completed the top ten for Red Bull KTM Ajo.

John McPhee completes swansong Moto3 race in eleventh.

Though not the only rider making an exit from Moto3, with no place for Andrea Migno or Carlos Tatay either, the most experienced rider exiting the class is John McPhee.

The British rider has completed 179 grand prix starts, but cannot compete in Moto3 next season due to the age limit in the lightweight class. His new destination is still unclear. 

Though not always on the top machinery in the class the #17 has picked up four memorable race wins in that time - his first coming at Brno in 2016 in the unfancied Peugeot and his most recent was  at the last race in Malaysia, a brave performance and comeback for 22nd on the grid in another tricky season which saw the Scot come back from what could have been a career ending back injury.

After ten years in the paddock his final race saw him start from tenth. An emotionally charged performance ensued with McPhee struggling for position at a track notoriously hard to overtake on. 

Dropping back from his grid position the Oban man rallied and made his way on to the back of the chasing group and never gave up as he battled his way to eleventh.

Fourth throughout the early laps, once in the pack Ortola went backwards rapidly, crossing the line twelfth after looking on for a career best.

The final points on offer went to Tatay (CFMoto Racing Pruestel GP) in 13th, Andrea Migno (Rivacold Snipers)in 14th and Tatsuki Suzuki, who recovered from a in-race long lap penalty for exceeding track limits on the Leopard for 15th.

Filippo Farioli was the best of the wildcard riders in 19th on the GasGas bike. David Almansa (Finetwork Team BOE Motorsports) was 25th.

Crashes and penalties

Jaume Masia and Kaito Toba were always due to be out of contention following their penalties for fighting after their crash in FP3.

Hit with a pit lane start and a long lap penalty each (along with a fine) they were 22nd and 24th respectively.

All the crashes came at turn six. Riccardo Rossi was the first to exit at the corner, joined by Taiyo Furusato and Scott Ogden, leaving Joshu Whatley as the best VisionTrack finisher in 26th.

2021 Valencia winner Xavier Artigas also came off at the tricky turn, but remounted for 23rd.

Where does that leave the final championship standings?

Sergio Garcia’s third in the race guaranteed him second in the championship with 257 points. Third was much tighter with Foggia’s late overtale on Sasaki seeing him take the place, holdina total of 247 compared to 238 for the Japanese rider, who missed two races with a broken shoulder.

Top rookie honours went to Diogo Moreira despite his penalty, already ahead, only Munoz finished in front of him in the race and that was not enough to catch his tally in the overall standings.