Tony Arbolino has taken his first win of the season after chasing down early race leader Raul Fernandez.

Fernandez got the early lead and after an opening lap crash for Tatsuki Suzuki and Kaito Toba, and immediately opened a lead in similar fashion to last weekends race.

However, despite Fernandez’ lead, the Spanish rider was chased down by Tony Arbolino and Sergio Garcia, who by the time the flag fell had both got the better of the Red Bull KTM AJO rider.

The win couldn’t have come at a better time for the Italian, who kept himself in the title chase sitting 11 points behind Albert Arenas ahead of Portimao. The ride from Arbolino was nothing short of world-class, fighting his way through the pack from 13th on the grid before eventually pinching the win from long-time leader Fernandez, who once again looked to have lost pace in the final third of the race.

Albert Arenas ended his long run of non-points finishes at Valencia by finishing fourth, crucially four places ahead of Ai Ogura, who could only manage eighth ahead of Jaume Masia. This means that, with one round to go, Masia, who lies fourth, is mathematically out of the championship fight. However it isn’t over for the Spaniard, he can still upset Arbolino and Ogura for second.

The Grand Prix was a typical Moto3 race, two groups which following crashes for Suzuki, Toba and Celestino Vietti was split in the early few laps. Despite rider’s best efforts, the group remained in two halves, eventually seeing Arbolino and Garcia break to catch Fernandez who finished +1.6s ahead of Arenas in fourth.

The Moto3 championship heads straight to Portimao as the Portuguese rollercoaster is set to decide the 2020 champion.

Featured image: MotoGP.com