Deniz Oncu secured a long-awaited maiden Moto3 victory at the Sachsenring by passing Ayumu Sasaki on the final corner on the very last lap.
The Turkish rider slotted into the top three in the early stages of the encounter behind series leader Daniel Holgado as well as Sasaki, who managed to convert pole position to the lead after passing fast-starting team-mate Dennis Veijer.
The Japanese pilot – who secured pole by over a second – soon began to start gapping the field as he unleashed his full potential, the Husqvarna racer pulling nearly a second-and-a-half before Oncu finally dispatched Holgado and began his pursuit.
The KTM Ajo man soon began to make an impression on the leadership and started to cut down Sasaki’s lead slowly but surely, Oncu finally reaching the tail of the leader with just over half-a-dozen laps remaining.
Oncu elected to sit in behind Sasaki over the remainder of the race a he sized him up for a move at the final corner, despite seemingly struggling with his left leg as he continually massaged it when possible over the closing stages.
With the lead duo having pulled well clear of the rest – with third placed Holgado starting the last tour over 12 seconds adrift – Oncu started to attack on the very final lap, Oncu trying to make Sasaki go defensive before diving down the inside at the final corner just as he had practiced.
He pulled off the move expertly to carry momentum on exit to take the chequered flag 0.095s clear of Sasaki, who led every lap but the final one as he secured his third successive rostrum result behind Oncu who bagged his first ever lightweight class success.
Holgado held off Ivan Ortola for the final rostrum spot by just over a tenth, while fifth went the way of GasGas’ David Alonso who led a big line of riders battling for the position.
Jaume Masia lost further ground in the title race as he came home sixth for Leopard Racing ahead of Diogo Moreira, with Ryusei Yamanaka taking eighth on the sister GasGas entry.
Stefano Nepa ended up ninth on his Angeluss MTA prepared bike, with Xavier Artigas completing the top ten after Matteo Bertelle crashed while heading for a top ten finish with only a couple circulations remaining.
David Munoz salvaged 12th having had to serve an early long-lap penalty, while Veijer saw his spirited start go to waste after crashing out at Turn 12 only a few laps into the contest.
Holgado now holds a 41 point advantage in the overall standings over Masia, with Ortola having closed to within just three of the Spaniard in third overall – with Sasaki and Oncu also making ground on the leading riders with their strong German runs.
