The 19-lap Moto3 season-opener kicked off proceedings for the 2023 lightweight class campaign in typically wild fashion.
Having taken the lead on the second lap from fourth on the grid, Tech3 KTM rider Dani Holgado fended off a hard-charging lead group of 10 competitors to claim a first grand prix victory for himself and the team in the class.
Holgado held off David Munoz on the BOE KTM across the final lap to take the chequered flag 0.160 seconds clear.
MT Helmets KTM rider Diogo Moreira completed the podium for the first time, marking Brazil’s first rostrum in the lightweight class since 2007.
Ajo KTM rookie Jose Rueda briefly took the lead late on, and finished a fine fourth on his debut ahead of the Leopard Honda of Jaume Masia and Intact GP Husqvarna’s Ayumu Sasaki – who started from pole.
The top 10 was completed by Angeluss MTA Team KTM rider Stefano Nepa, Prustel GP CF Moto duo Xavi Artigas and Joel Kelso – who grabbed the holeshot off the line – and Tech3’s Deniz Oncu, who recovered to 10th after being forced to start from pitlane when he stalled on the warm-up lap.
Australian Kelso was taken to the medical centre following the race after suffering a sickening incident directly after the chequered flag.
As Holgado celebrated his victory, Kelso was caught unsighted as he went to pull a tearoff strip from his visor and clattered into the back of the Tech3 rider.
Kelso was thrown off his machine and landed headily on the asphalt, while Holgado escaped unscathed.
Moto3 race results
| Cla | Rider | Bike | Gap | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Daniel Holgado |
KTM | |||
| 2 | David Muñoz | KTM | 0.160 | 0.160 | |
| 3 |  Diogo Moreira |
KTM | 0.175 | 0.015 | |
| 4 | Jose Antonio | KTM | 0.206 | 0.031 | |
| 5 | Jaume Masia |
Honda | 0.233 | 0.027 | |
| 6 |  Ayumu Sasaki |
Husqvarna | 1.090 | 0.857 | |
| 7 |  Stefano Nepa |
KTM | 1.125 | 0.035 | |
| 8 | Xavier Artigas |
CF MOTO | 1.137 | 0.012 | |
| 9 | Joel Kelso | CF MOTO | 1.268 | 0.131 | |
| 10 |  Deniz Öncü |
KTM | 1.409 | 0.141 | |
| 11 | Kaito Toba |
Honda | 2.852 | 1.443 | |
| 12 | Collin Veijer | Husqvarna | 6.904 | 4.052 | |
| 13 | David Salvador | KTM | 6.931 | 0.027 | |
| 14 | Tatsuki Suzuki |
Honda | 9.722 | 2.791 | |
| 15 | Riccardo Rossi |
Honda | 9.748 | 0.026 | |
| 16 | Ryusei Yamanaka |
GASGAS | 9.771 | 0.023 | |
| 17 | Matteo Bertelle | Honda | 19.803 | 10.032 | |
| 18 |  Mario Suryo Aji |
Honda | 20.317 | 0.514 | |
| 19 | Romano Fenati |
Honda | 29.900 | 9.583 | |
| 20 | Taiyo Furusato |
Honda | 29.948 | 0.048 | |
| 21 |  Joshua Whatley |
Honda | 29.904 | ||
| 22 | Syarifuddin Azman | KTM | 29.969 | 0.065 | |
| 23 | Ana Carrasco |
KTM | 30.066 | 0.097 | |
| Ivan Ortola | KTM | 1 Lap | 1 Lap | ||
| David Alonso | GASGAS | 6 Laps | 5 Laps | ||
| Filippo Farioli | KTM | 14 Laps | 8 Laps | ||
| Scott Ogden |
Honda | ||||
 Lorenzo Fellon |
KTM | ||||
| View full results | |||||
The first round of the 2023 Moto2 season saw Pedro Acosta set his intentions early on, as he absorbed race-long pressure from Aron Canet to claim victory.
Pons Kalex rider Canet grabbed the lead off the line from first-time poleman Filip Salac on the Gresini Kalex, with Acosta moving through into second on lap two.
On the following tour Acosta took the lead from Canet going through Turn 14, with both riders easing away from the pack behind.
Canet kept Acosta in check for much of the race, but in the closing three tours the Ajo KTM rider pulled away by 1.3s to get to the chequered flag unbothered.
Tony Arbolino completed the podium for the Marc VDS squad, as Salac finished fourth from Yamaha VR46 Master Camp rider Manuel Gonzalez.
Aspar’s Jake Dixon rounded out the top six ahead of fellow Briton Sam Lowes (Marc VDS), with Albert Arenas eighth on his first outing with Ajo KTM, Honda Team Asia’s Somkiat Chantra ninth and the second Gresini-run bike of Jeremy Alcoba 10th.
Moto2 race results
| Cla | Rider | Bike | Time | Gap | Interval | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pedro Acosta |
Kalex | - | |||
| 2 | Arón Canet |
Kalex | 1.358 | 1.358 | 1.358 | |
| 3 | Tony Arbolino |
Kalex | 4.460 | 4.460 | 3.102 | |
| 4 |  Filip Salač |
Kalex | 7.110 | 7.110 | 2.650 | |
| 5 | Manuel Gonzalez |
Kalex | 8.193 | 8.193 | 1.083 | |
| 6 | Jake Dixon |
Kalex | 9.146 | 9.146 | 0.953 | |
| 7 | Sam Lowes |
Kalex | 9.649 | 9.649 | 0.503 | |
| 8 | Albert Arenas |
Kalex | 12.270 | 12.270 | 2.621 | |
| 9 |  Somkiat Chantra |
Kalex | 13.941 | 13.941 | 1.671 | |
| 10 | Jeremy Alcoba |
Kalex | 13.840 | 13.840 | ||
| 11 | Celestino Vietti Ramus |
Kalex | 14.086 | 14.086 | 0.246 | |
| 12 |  Barry Baltus |
Kalex | 14.515 | 14.515 | 0.429 | |
| 13 | Fermin Aldeguer |
Boscoscuro B-21 | 15.445 | 15.445 | 0.930 | |
| 14 |  Joe Roberts |
Kalex | 25.444 | 25.444 | 9.999 | |
| 15 | Sergio García |
Kalex | 26.876 | 26.876 | 1.432 | |
| 16 |  Darryn Binder |
Kalex | 40.233 | 40.233 | 13.357 | |
| 17 | Borja Gomez | Kalex | 41.710 | 41.710 | 1.477 | |
| 18 | Dennis Foggia |
Kalex | 41.806 | 41.806 | 0.096 | |
| 19 | Lorenzo Dalla Porta |
Kalex | 42.116 | 42.116 | 0.310 | |
| 20 | Sean Dylan Kelly |
Kalex | 42.141 | 42.141 | 0.025 | |
| 21 | Marcos Ramirez |
FORWARD | 44.802 | 44.802 | 2.661 | |
| 22 | Rory Skinner |
Kalex | 45.630 | 45.630 | 0.828 | |
| 23 | Jordi Torres |
Kalex | 1'02.643 | 1'02.643 | 17.013 | |
| Alonso López |
Boscoscuro B-21 | |||||
 Zonta van den Goorbergh |
Kalex | |||||
| David Sanchis | FORWARD | |||||
| Bo Bendsneyder |
Kalex | |||||
| View full results | ||||||
