#CzechGP Moto3 Race: Sixth victory of the season for Mir

When it was time to embark on this ninth round of the Grand Prix calendar which moved into its final part, all eyes were turned to the sky to know the verdict of the clouds. At the start of the morning, the rain brought back memories of a field which had experienced an armistice during qualifying on Saturday. What will be the conditions for this race, which of the sun or the showers will dominate the game?

Before the choice is made, here is a tabular overview, with the latest news from the transfer market in mind: bastianini will ride in Leopard colors in 2018:

#CzechGP Moto3	2016	2017
FP1	2'08.515 Enea Bastianini	2'21.970 Tim Georgi (see here)
FP2	2'08.047 Brad Binder	2'20.819 Joan Mir (see here)
FP3	2'07.713 Brad Binder	2'08.773 Niccolo Bulega
Qualification	2'07.785 Brad Binder	2'08.571 Gabriele Rodrigo
Warm up	2'22.759 John McPhee	2'09.080 John McPhee
Course	Mc Phee, Martin, Di Giannantonio (see here)
All time lap record	2'07.622 Alex Rins 2013

 

There is a Scot who will not shy away from a little humidity. It is John mcphee who achieved the best performance in the warm-up when he woke up and who remembers his one and only Grand Prix victory, won on this same wet Brno track, just a year ago. Still it is Gabriele Rodrigo who commands this starting grid and the Argentinian intends to match a certain Nicolò Antonelli who is currently the only one, in five years of Moto3's existence, to have won in Brno after starting from pole position.

For his part, the championship leader Joan Mir and fourth on the grid would be able to continue his good momentum which has given him five victories, a feat that Danny Kent had achieved before him in 2015 when he won the Moto3 title. Likewise, Honda is leading eight victories in nine races, which has not happened in five years.

Finally, there have been five different winners at this Czech track since the introduction of Moto3 in 2012: Jonas Folger, louis salom, Alexis Masbou, Niccolo Antonelli et John McPhee. Who's next ?

It was on damp asphalt heated to 21° and promised to dry out that the pack set off. Incidentally, this is a first this season since, until then, all the Grands Prix in this category have taken place in the dry. The first round was under the control of Guevara while fenati et Rodrigo were in a duel. Danilo et Herrera were already hanging on for the count. As for Bendsneyder et Mir, they joined the leading trio. Pagliani learned that he had made an early departure.

Guevara, Bendsneyder et Mir escaped in the lead, taking shelter from a peloton led by Ramirez. But it's the Thai  Nakarin Atiratphuvapat who was doing the show at the Pawi sunny days going back to the top of the table. Fourth, he swooped on Mir while Bendsneyder decided to take responsibility by taking orders from Guevara.

By the way, it was also a party Tim Georgi which recalled her beautiful outfit on the first rainy day of Friday. The 17-year-old German showed his wheel in the top 10 at a pace allowing him to hope for a real feat. At 13 rounds of goal, Guevara took back his head Bendsneyder et Mir kept his place on the podium against the Thai fury.

Ten laps from the finish, fenati made his effort and launched himself in pursuit of the leading duo in the middle of a duel. Rolling ahead Mir, he took back a few points in the process of winning the championship. The track drying up, georgi et Atiratphuvapat was slowing down, unlike a McPhee, now seventh.

One turn later, fenati joined Bendsneyder et Guevara and tried without preliminaries to settle their score, under the eyes of a Mir who had the intelligence to take the Italian's wheel. He will still need three laps to take the lead, a period of time also well used by McPhee, now installed in fifth place.

But the Scotsman saw his ambitions thwarted by a Canet in full climb and at an accelerated pace as you go along a dry track. With five laps to go, the Spaniard even presented himself as a candidate for victory given his times. Especially since in mind, Guevara responded to fenati who had to get back to work.

A job that Mir actually took responsibility for it. The championship leader took the lead with four laps to go and started the charge. A message understood by fenati who took his suction, leaving Guevara et Bendsneyder grappling with a Canet hungry. In view of the last round, a sumptuous duel between Mir et fenati for victory was announced.

It was Mir who won for the sixth time this season ahead of fenati et Canet who deprived Bendsneyder from the podium. Rodrigo the pole sitter fell on the last lap and Guevara closed the top 5 at McPhee. The protégé of Valentino Rossi, Foggia, scored his first points during his first race at this level by finishing fourteenth…

#CzechGP Moto3 Race: Ranking

1	36	Joan Mir	Honda	44'41.314
2	5	Roman FENATI	Honda	+0.350
3	44	Aaron CANET	Honda	+3.078
4	64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	KTM	+4.598
5	58	Juanfran GUEVARA	KTM	+4.882
6	17	John MCPHEE	Honda	+8.343
7	42	Marcos RAMIREZ	KTM	+9.597
8	24	Tatsuki SUZUKI	Honda	+10.234
9	7	Adam NORRODIN	Honda	+10.395
10	41	Nakarin ATIRATPHUVAPAT	Honda	+10.913
11	16	Andrea MIGNO	KTM	+11.148
12	75	Albert Arenas	Mahindra	+12.085
13	65	Philipp OETTL	KTM	+14.266
14	10	Dennis FOGGIA	KTM	+14.271
15	71	Ayumu SASAKI	Honda	+14.311
16	14	Tony ARBOLINO	Honda	+14.404
17	33	Enea BASTIANINI	Honda	+14.449
18	77	Tim GEORGI	KTM	+15.144
19	48	Lorenzo FROM THE DOOR	Mahindra	+20.312
20	84	Jakub KORNFEIL	Peugeot	+23.680
21	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	Honda	+23.935
22	12	Marco BEZZECCHI	Mahindra	+24.772
23	8	Nicholas BULEGA	KTM	+24.831
24	23	Niccolo ANTONELLI	KTM	+25.143
25	96	Manuel PAGLIANI	Mahindra	+38.836
26	19	Gabriel RODRIGO	KTM	+42.433
27	11	Livio LOI	Honda	+42.497
28	18	Gabriel MARTINEZ-ABREGO	KTM	+47.923
29	27	Kaito TOBA	Honda	+48.013
30	4	Patrick PULKKINEN	Peugeot	+48.407
		Not Finished 1st Lap
	95	Jules DANILO	Honda	0 laps
	6	Maria HERRERA	KTM	0 laps