Antonelli claims maiden win

Aug 16, 2015
2 min read

Niccolo Antonelli secured his first win and podium in a shortened Moto3 race at Brno.

The Italian started from pole position but was soon headed into turn one by Jorge Navarro who started from third. However, further down the field there were two 4-rider collisions the first at turn 1 involving Suzuki, Ajo, Oettl and Danilo. The second incident involved Rodrigo, Ono, Dalla Porta and Locatelli at turn 3. As a result race direction stopped the race and the red flags flew before the end of the first lap. Rodrigo was taken by ambulance to the medical centre and then to the hospital in Brno for further checks on his right leg.

The red flag meant the restart would be for a shorter 12 lap race and riders starting in their original grid positions. Kent had a good start but Navarro once again led into turn 1 but the battle ensued between 10 riders with continuous change of positions throughout the 12 lap race until the chequered flag. Bastianini, second in the championship, Fenati and Oliveira all made excellent starts from lowly grid positions to be part of this large group of riders challenging for the win and podium. Other riders in the group included Brad Binder, Vazquez, Kent, Navarro, Antonelli, Kornfeil, McPhee and Masbou.

Alexis Masbou crashed out from 9th with just a handful of laps remaining as the front end folded underneath him at turn 11 leaving just 10 riders in the group before John McPhee gradually dropped away by the end of the race. Championship leader Danny Kent seemed to struggle in the pack and could only muster a seventh place finish and saw title rival Bastianini make several overtakes in the final two laps to take a consecutive second place finish to close the gap in the championship to 45 points.

Meanwhile, pole sitter Niccolo Antonelli had too dropped down the pack but throughout the shorter race gained positions back. With a few laps to go, the Italian took the lead and was never headed to allow him to clinch his first victory and first podium in the Moto3 class. Brad Binder claimed third place ahead of Vazquez and Navarro. Fenati finished an impressive 6th after starting the race 22nd whilst home favourite Jakub Kornfeil secured a top 10 finish at his home race

Moto3 Race Result Top 10:

WINNER - Niccolo ANTONELLI, 25m56.866s

2ND - Enea BASTIANINI, +0.152

3RD - Brad BINDER, +0.376

4TH - Efren VAZQUEZ, +0.540

5TH - Jorge NAVARRO, +0.560

6TH - Romano FENATI, +0.821

7TH - Danny KENT, +1.179

8TH - Miguel OLIVEIRA, +1.188

9TH - Jakub KORNFEIL, +1.420

10TH - John MCPHEE, +3.385

Moto3 Championship Standings after Round 11 of 18: