The Moto3 World Championship will reach its climax in the coming weeks as the series prepares for its final triple-header of the season with two races in Valencia and a barn-storming season finale in Portimao, but who will become the 2020 Moto3 world champion?

As Moto3 returns to action at a cold Valencia circuit in November there is no clear favourite as we head into the final three races of the year.

Current Championship leader Albert Arenas will be hoping he can return to podium form, after a strong Aragon weekend resulted in a seventh and fourth place finish. The three-time 2020 victor leads the charge over Ai Ogura by 19 points, after the Japanese rider saw his lead disintegrate and fell to almost a race-win deficit.

However, thanks to late crashes in Aragon, Ogura managed to squeeze a top ten finish to remain well within title contention should misfortune great Arenas in Valencia.

Despite Arenas’ season being nearly perfect, the ball returns to the chasing packs court as the Spanish rider is yet to finish inside the top 20 at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, whilst championship rival Ogura finished 10th there last season.

From third downwards the title chase is close. Le Mans victor Celestino Vietti is one point behind Ogura and has also previously recorded two top-ten finishes at Valencia. Back-to-back Aragon winner, Jaume Masia lies four points behind the SKY Racing VR46 Italian. The young Spaniard is the rider in form at the moment, and despite not having a podium finish in Valencia, Masia could change that this weekend.

Tony Arbolino slipped to fifth in the standings following his quarantine at the first Aragon round. The Snipers rider sits on 121 points, three points ahead of John McPhee in sixth. Arbolino is yet to finish a race at Valencia, crashing from the lead at the wet 2018 round.

McPhee on the other hand is the only rider to secure a podium at Valencia inside the top six. The Scotsman has had a blip of form in recent races but will no doubt be aiming for a repeat performance from 2018 with a podium finish to slingshot him back into title contention.

Raul Fernandez and Darryn Binder will have to finish 1-2 should misfortune strike the other six riders to keep their championship alive and that is unlikely. Arguably, the younger Binder brother could be in contention without silly crashes in both Misano races.

Valencia is a circuit that always throws up surprises. Ran in November, the track is cold and sometimes wet, creating unpredictable racing across all three classes. In fact, the racing is that unpredictable, no one in Moto3 or Moto2 has won more than once, with Sergio Garcia and Can Oncu the latest riders to stand on the Moto3 top step in Cheste.

Jorge Martin holds the all-time lap record, and with conditions forecasted as they are, his 1:38.428 looks safe.

The Moto3 class get this weekend’s action underway with free practice one on Friday at 10:00 local time. FP2 concludes Moto3’s action on Friday at 13:35 before the shootout for Qualifying beings Saturday’s action with FP3 commencing on Saturday at 10:00.

Qualifying for the junior class begins at 13:15 which will set the grid for Sunday’s 23-lap race at 11:00.

Featured image: MotoGP.com