2023-11-20 22:59:13
The Moto3 World Championship concluded its 2023 season this past Sunday in Qatar, and it did so not without some controversy. Jaume Masiá took home his first title in the youngest categorya crown that the Valencian wore in Losail after having won a total of four races this year in addition to accumulating five more podiums, substantially better numbers than those of his greatest rival for the title Ayumu Sasaki, without victories this year although with more podiums than Masiá, a total of ten top threes that have allowed the Japanese to arrive with real options to be champion until the penultimate round of the year.
Beyond the friction on the track and the two aggressive overtakes that Jaume gave the Japanese in turn six in Qatar, Sasaki loudly complained about the strategy that, from his point of view, Leopard Racing applied on the track, ordering Adrián Fernández to block any progress by the Japanese at any cost.
Ayumu himself said after the race that “Masià was quite aggressive once or twice in turn 6, but nothing happens. Suddenly his teammate came, who was in the middle, and we lost everything with four laps remaining. “Adrián cut the gas in the middle of the track and the difference with the front group has increased.”
The 23-year-old driver’s anger was such that he never considered approaching the Leopard Racing box to congratulate Masiá on his success: “I wanted to fight Masià the right way because, if he had lost the right way, I would have understood and congratulated him too. Losing this way… I think I haven’t lost in the right way. That’s why I can’t congratulate him, because this is a shame, but it is what it is.“.
What happened in Qatar did not end on the track; Social networks have been filled with comments in defense of both drivers, some criticizing Masiá’s behavior in this last race and others remembering what the Algemesí rider has had to suffer this season from the riders of the KTM / GASGAS groupincluding Sasaki’s partner, Collin Veijer, who also did not cut a hair in Losail when he had the opportunity to battle with Jaume.
Efren Vazquez He has been one of those who have taken advantage of their social networks to give their point of view on this controversy. The Basque, who currently works as a KTM tester in the Moto3 World Championship, wonders “How we want Race Direction to be respected if even the blindest sees that there are things that should not be done, today again motorcycling has shown that in terms of sanctions rules, it has incredible gaps. It’s a shame, all the life same situations without sanctions”.
The one from Rekalde, who knows very well what it means to fight for a title in the youngest category, sees it as normal that “a pilot makes the most of it, up to the limit of legality”, something that he “will never question” when it comes to a title fight “that he may never have the option to do it again in his life,” but at the same time warns that “In Career Management you have to have people with a firm hand to nip situations like this in the bud. I actually think that they don’t want to stop these situations and that they don’t give a shit about a pilot’s work for an entire year. Nor his integrity as long as there are situations that put us on our feet watching the race. “We need clearer rules.”
Other Moto3 riders like David Alonso or Ana Carrasco They have also supported Sasaki in the post that the Japanese pilot posted on his Instagram account. There, the Colombian told him “Sasaki, you run like a true champion“, while the Cehegín pilot asked the Japanese “Stay strong mate! You’ve fought like a champion, your day will come!”
Iván Ortolaa rider who is sixth in the Moto3 World Championship this year, wrote to Sasaki “You have had an incredible championship, you have to be proud”, a list of messages of encouragement to which are added names like that of Iker Lecuona Lecuona, Jake Dixon o Deniz Öncü.
But without a doubt, the most striking message has been the one he wrote Mick Doohan. The five-time 500 cc champion is not usually seen on social networks, but this time he has found it necessary to contribute his point of view after witnessing the race held in Losail last Sunday, a spectacle that the Australian did not like at all, who clearly positions himself on Ayumu Sasaki’s side.
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“I’m in shock”, Doohan writes. “No sanction against the driving demonstrated by the winning driver and the team. The races should be tough, but fair, the winner did not win because of his talent, he knew he did not have yours. Sensational Sasaki, you have given everything.”shared the 58-year-old former pilot.
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