Kent Wins Catalan Corker

Jun 14, 2015
3 min read

Danny Kent extends his lead in the Moto3 standings after taking a sensational victory in a thrilling Catalan Grand Prix. The Leopard Racing rider used his speed and cunning in a race that saw the lead change almost every lap. Kent hit the front on lap four as he dragged his way into the lead at turn one. He tried to go on a break-away but conceded that it just wasn't possible. Opting to sit behind the leaders and conserve his tyres Kent got the hammer down on the final lap, first gliding his way around the outside of Miguel Oliveira for 2nd into the first turn and then using his supreme strength on the anchors to get past team-mate Efren Vazquez at turn four.

Kent now has a 51-point advantage in the standings after just seven rounds.

Enea Bastianini tried to reel the Honda in, and he'd gotten right up behind Kent after passing Vazquez on the inside of turn ten. But the Gresini rider couldn't find a way through in the final sequence of corners and had to settle for 2nd once again. Vazquez dropped behind Niccolo Antonelli at turn ten also, but the Spaniard put a brave Rossi-esque pass on the Italian at the final corner to take the final podium spot.

Miguel Oliveira tried his best to take his second consecutive Grand Prix win and was up at the front for the entire contest, leading for a handful of laps. But by race-end the Portuguese rider had fallen to 5th, with EG 0,0 Honda's Jorge Navarro following him home in 6th. The Spaniard looked good for a podium for much of the 23-lap contest, but just began to drop back from the leaders as the final few laps approached.

His team-mate Fabio Quartararo flew under the radar and didn't feature up at the sharp end unexpectedly. Instead, the young French rider was locked in the cut-throat battle for 11th, coming across the line 14th. It was Jorge Martin on the Mapfre Mahindra who was the victor of that particular scrap after a number of riders in that group fell off. Team-mate Juanfran Guevara was the first to go down at turn eleven, then Andrea Migno after he touched Karel Hanika on the exit of turn eleven; the Czech rider incidentally was taken down a few laps later after Jules Danilo wiped him out at turn ten.

Philipp Oettl displayed the form that shone through back in 2013 after he finished a very respectable 10th, whilst Maria Herrera impressed in 15th.

John McPhee's season went from bad to worse after he crashed out of the race on the eleventh lap, whilst team-mate Alexis Masbou was forced to start from the pit-lane after stalling his RTG Honda on the grid. The Frenchman finished 18th.

Gabriel Rodrigo, Stefano Manzi and Jakub Kornfeil's race came to an end after just three turns as they collided through the long right-hander at turn three. All riders were thankfully unhurt.

Race Top 15:

1st Danny Kent, Leopard Racing Honda

2nd Enea Bastianini, Gresini Team Moto3 Honda

3rd Efren Vazquez, Leopard Racing Honda

4th Niccolo Antonelli, Ongetta-Rivacold Honda

5th Miguel Oliveira, Red Bull KTM Ajo

6th Jorge Navarro, EG 0,0 Honda

7th Isaac Vinales, Husqvarna Factory Laglisse

8th Romano Fenati, SKY Racing Team VR46 KTM

9th Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Ajo

10th Philipp Oettl, Schedl GP KTM

11th Jorge Martin, Mapfre Mahindra Team