Dalla Porta secured the 2019 Moto3 World Championship in the best possible way with a brilliant victory at the end of the Moto3 race. The 22-year-old went into the 17th race of the year knowing that a win would be enough to put the title beyond doubt.
After his main championship rival Aron Canet crashed out on the second lap Dalla Porta had his sights firmly set on victory and rode like a champion. The race was a typical multi-rider battle at the front, with just nine tenths of a second covering the first 14 going into the final lap.
Dalla Porta was the dominant force, but then Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse Honda NSF250RW) sneaked ahead at turn four on the final lap, only for the Italian to retake the lead four corners later. He took the win by 0.077 seconds from team-mate and pole-sitter Marcos Ramirez (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) who slipstreamed his way into second-place on the run to the finish line. Albert Arenas took third, with 0.088 seconds covering the top three!
Suzuki lost out in the final few meters to finish fourth, the 22-year-old from Chiba narrowly missing out on a podium finish for the second consecutive weekend. John McPhee (Petronas Sprinta Racing Honda NSF250RW) was fifth, Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing Honda NSF250RW) seventh and Tony Arbolino (VNE Snipers Honda NSF250RW) ninth, with 2.023 seconds covering the top ten.
Dalla Porta’s title is the fifth Moto3 Riders World Championship for Honda riders in the eighth year of the Moto3 class, after Alex Marquez (2014), Danny Kent (2015), Joan Mir (2017) and Jorge Martin (2018). This is also the third straight year in which the brilliant NSF250RW has been the strongest bike in the class, with today’s success the 12th Honda win from 17 races.
Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) showed tremendous maturity to score points during his first visit to Phillip Island. The 18-year old from Tokyo had a complicated Saturday, qualifying 23rd and struggling to find the correct lines through Phillip Island’s fast, sweeping corners. Ogura finally finished 14th, seven seconds behind the race winner.
Qatar GP winner Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia Honda NSF250RW) once again showed his talent. The 19-year-old from Fukuoka briefly led the race and fought for victory until a clash with a rival caused him to crash with just three laps to go.
Teams now north to Kuala Lumpur for next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang, the third MotoGP round in three weekends. The season concludes at Valencia, Spain, on November 17.