Immaculate skies and ideal conditions (25°/37°) welcome the Moto3 competitors in this Catalan Grand Prix. Except that Luis Salom is there now, in this sky, and that the whole MotoGP family is in a hurry to turn the page to be able to direct their minds somewhat towards Assen.
And the one most eager to do these 22 laps is perhaps
Brad Binder, who sets off best from a first line also composed of Niccolo Antonelli and Jorge Navarro.
Enea Bastianini, second in his wheel, is ultimately the one who makes an excellent start, just like
Khairul Idham Pawi.
Alexis Masbou is mowed down by Stefano Valtulini after a few corners; he remains on the ground but is unharmed.
The long straight and its suction phenomenon allows Khairul Idham Pawi to take the lead, but on the next passage the order is obviously upset in a Top 10 currently composed of Navarro, Binder, Rodrigo, Bastianini, Canet, Pawi, Bagnaia, Antonelli, Ono, Fenati, Bulega and Danilo.
Un Jules Danilo who cannot, however, avoid the motorcycle on the groundHiroki Ono after 4 laps of racing.
In the peloton, there are 14 fighting in tight formation and it is impossible to follow all the changes in leadership, even if Jorge Navarro tries to maintain it vigorously...
Behind, Guevara takes Bagnaia to the ground, allowing 10 men to break away in front of Fabio Quartararo; Navarro, Canet, Rodrigo, Binder, Fenati, Bastianini, Pawi, Bulega, Antonelli and Kornfeil.
Gradually, Antonelli and Kornfeil get knocked out and there are only 8 left, at halfway, who can claim victory.
Nobody being able to break away, strategy then comes into play and, in this game, Brad Binder showed us the extent of his talent... He therefore observes Navarro, Bastianini, Fenati and Rodrigo fighting like ragpickers.
Niccolo Antonelli tried hard to get back into this group but did too much and the VR46 Riders Academy rider fell without gravity 7 laps from the checkered flag.
2 laps later, Bulega, Canet and Pawi start to get lost while much further away, Jorge Martin makes a minor mistake. Finally, the 3 men manage to get back together
There are therefore always 8 of them competing with great testosterone when Rodrigo takes Binder off the track. The two men nevertheless remain on their wheels while Pawi makes a mistake by losing the front. Rodrigo imitates it a few turns further.
Binder then begins his ascent; he has 2 laps left to make up the second he has on Navarro, the provisional leader of the race. Navarro accelerates and Binder must pass the 4 competitors who separate him from the Spaniard.
He does so but Jorge Navarro crosses the finish line in the lead, ahead of Binder, Bastianini, Fenati, Bulega, Canet and… Fabio Quartararo, 7th after a strong end of the race.
Behind, Tatsuki suzuki, one of the two drivers of Alain Bronec's CIP team, is once again in the points with his best result of the season.
Pos | Points | number | Pile | Country | Team | Motorcycle | Time/Gap | |
1 | 25 | 9 | Jorge NAVARRO | SPA | Galicia Star 0,0 | Honda | 42'18.228 | |
2 | 20 | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Garlic | KTM | +0.564 | |
3 | 16 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | ITA | Gresini Racing Moto3 | Honda | +0.817 | |
4 | 13 | 5 | Roman FENATI | ITA | Sky Racing Team VR46 | KTM | +0.925 | |
5 | 11 | 8 | Nicholas BULEGA | ITA | Sky Racing Team VR46 | KTM | +1.531 | |
6 | 10 | 44 | Aaron CANET | SPA | Galicia Star 0,0 | Honda | +1.581 | |
7 | 9 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | FRA | Leopard Racing | KTM | +13.605 | |
8 | 8 | 36 | Joan Mir | SPA | Leopard Racing | KTM | +13.672 | |
9 | 7 | 4 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | ITA | Gresini Racing Moto3 | Honda | +13.753 | |
10 | 6 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | CZE | Drive M7 SIC Racing Team | Honda | +14.814 | |
11 | 5 | 64 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NED | Red Bull KTM Garlic | KTM | +14.840 | |
12 | 4 | 40 | Darryn BINDER | RSA | Platinum Bay Real Estate | Mahindra | +29.860 | |
13 | 3 | 58 | Juanfran GUEVARA | SPA | RBA Racing Team | KTM | +32.006 | |
14 | 2 | 24 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | JPN | CIP-Unicom Starker | Mahindra | +33.305 | |
15 | 1 | 17 | John MCPHEE | GBR | Peugeot MC Saxoprint | Peugeot | +33.766 | |
16 | 11 | Livio LOI | BEL | RW Racing GP B.V | Honda | +34.986 | ||
17 | 65 | Philipp OETTL | GER | Schedl GP Racing | KTM | +36.384 | ||
18 | 16 | Andrea MIGNO | ITA | Sky Racing Team VR46 | KTM | +41.731 | ||
19 | 55 | Andrea LOCATELLI | ITA | Leopard Racing | KTM | +42.985 | ||
20 | 23 | Niccolo ANTONELLI | ITA | Ongetta-Rivacold | Honda | +59.035 | ||
21 | 3 | Fabio SPIRANELLI | ITA | CIP-Unicom Starker | Mahindra | + 1'29.713 | ||
22 | 77 | Lorenzo PETRARCA | ITA | 3570 Team Italy | Mahindra | + 1'30.640 | ||
98 | Karel HANIKA | CZE | Platinum Bay Real Estate | Mahindra | 1 Tour | |||
37 | Davide PIZZOLI | ITA | Procercasa – 42 Motorsport | KTM | 1 Tour | |||
19 | Gabriel RODRIGO | ARG | RBA Racing Team | KTM | 2 Tours | |||
89 | Khairul Idham PAWI | MAL | Honda Team Asia | Honda | 3 Tours | |||
88 | Jorge MARTIN | SPA | ASPAR Mahindra Team Moto3 | Mahindra | 6 Tours | |||
12 | Albert Arenas | SPA | MRW Mahindra Aspar Team | Mahindra | 9 Tours | |||
21 | Francesco Bagnaia | ITA | ASPAR Mahindra Team Moto3 | Mahindra | 17 Tours | |||
7 | Adam NORRODIN | MAL | Drive M7 SIC Racing Team | Honda | 17 Tours | |||
76 | Hiroki ONO | JPN | Honda Team Asia | Honda | 19 Tours | |||
95 | Jules DANILO | FRA | Ongetta-Rivacold | Honda | 19 Tours | |||
6 | Maria HERRERA | SPA | MH6 Team | KTM | 20 Tours | |||
43 | Stefano VALTULINI | ITA | 3570 Team Italy | Mahindra | 20 Tours | |||
10 | Alexis MASBOU | FRA | Peugeot MC Saxoprint | Peugeot | 0 Tour |