Rookie of the year in 2016, the Spaniard made his mark by winning the Austrian Grand Prix. He once again had a splendid race at Losail, winning ahead of a very brilliant John McPhee and a particularly combative Jorge Matin.
It was for 18 laps (96,84 km) that 31 of the 32 permanent riders on the 3 Moto2017 field set off, only the Argentinian gabriel rodrigo (RBA) having withdrawn due to a broken collarbone in the first free practice session. Let's wish him well for his National Grand Prix which will take place in two weeks.
Despite the absence of a qualifying session, the starting grid, based on the accumulation of three free practice sessions, had a rather logical appearance. In pole position, George Martin confirmed his fourth place on the Brno grid last year, while he was in his second season in a Team Aspar Mahindra. While Martin was aiming for his first victory this Sunday for his thirty-fifth start, he was alongside the KTM of Philipp Oettl (0 victory in 70 GP) and the Honda of Roman Fenati, on pole here in Qatar a year ago, before his subsequent dismissal by his then team Sky Racing Team VR46. Author of 7 victories in 79 races, Fenati was one of the most experienced in this category with Jakub Kornfeil (127 departures), Niccolo Antonelli (86) et John mcphee (81)
We found on the second row solid and serious with the two official KTM Ajo of Will Bendsneyder and Niccolo Antonelli (winner of the Qatar GP last year). Antonelli was supposed to be the No. 1 driver, but his Dutch teammate was putting up resistance. Joan mir completed the second row, with three of the favorites on the third: Andrea Migno, Aron Canet and Juanfran Guevara. Jules Danilo started from the eighth line. And Enea Bastianini only from the seventh. Why “only”? Because the Italian finished second in the World Championship last year on a Honda Gresini, while he seemed to have a lot of difficulty at the start of the season adapting to the Honda Monlau Estrella Galicia. It is reminiscent of certain dark hours in the career of fabio quartararo in Moto3.
On the grid, the air temperature was 23° and that of the track 25°. The sky remained cloudy and the wind blew at around 10 km/h. All riders chose a medium Dunlop at the rear, and almost all at the front with the exception of Juanfran Guevara et Jules Danilo who preferred a soft one.
The fastest at the start was George Martin ahead of Philipp Oettl, Niccolo Antonelli, Joan Mir, Bo Bendsneyder and Andrea Migno. Romano Fenati, who started moderately, moved up to sixth. Jules Danilo was twenty-fifth. Joan Mir moved up to second position and attacked Jorge Martin. Bo Bendsneyder on the other hand fell back to eleventh position. Joan Mir took the lead at the end of the second lap, ahead of Martin, Migno, Oettl, Antonelli, Guevara, Canet and Fenati. Fabio di Giannantonio thirteenth set the best lap in 2'06.958.
Andrea Migno took command, but Joan Mir quickly passed him back. Bo Bendsneyder fell and restarted 2th and last, following a collision with Livio Loi. Jorge Martin took the lead, ahead of Oettl, Mir, Migno and Guevara. Albert Arenas fell without gravity. Fabio di Giannantonio improved the best lap to 06.860'13. John McPhee had a good race which allowed him to move up to fourth position with XNUMX laps to go, behind Mir and Oettl, then the Scotsman took the lead ahead of the Spaniard and the German.
Mir regained the advantage of the group of leaders which then included 13 drivers. Juanfran Guevara took first position, ahead of Martin, McPhee, Mir, Fenati, Migno, Canet and Oettl who failed to brake at the end of the straight. Jules Danilo was twenty-second, 11 laps from the checkered flag. Nicolo Bulega was in difficulty in sixteenth position. Finnish debutant Patrik Pulkkinen was in last position at 30 seconds.
Halfway through this very lively event, Andrea Migno became the new leader, ahead of McPhee, Mir, Martin and Fenati. There were still 13 grouped in the lead, each of them able to win. The chasing pack, led by Livio Loi 5 seconds behind, no longer had any chance. Jules Danilo moved up to twentieth, at the head of the third group.
With 8 more laps to go, McPhee took the lead again, ahead of Mir, Martin, Canet, di Giannantonio and Fenati. Fabio di Giannantonio took the lead with 7 laps remaining, then Romano Fenati replaced him in first place. Philipp Oettl lost the lead just in front of Juanfran Guevara and both men fell without seriousness. There were therefore only 11 men left to compete for victory.
Martin was again the leader 5 laps from the checkered flag, ahead of Mir, Fenati, di Giannantonio, Canet, McPhee and Migno. Mir took command again, closely followed by Fenati and McPhee. The young Finn Pulkkinen fell lightly in turn 4. Honda then dominated with the first four places. Mir and Canet were fighting for the lead, but McPhee and Fenati were close behind them. We started to calculate the right position to be in the last corner for the aspiration.
Mir took the lead in the last two laps, with McPhee behind him, followed by Canet, Fenati, Martin and Migno. Danilo was still twentieth. McPhee took command at the start of the final lap, but Mir overtook him. Martin, Canet and Fenati were on the lookout.
Finally, Mir won by 0.135 over McPhee, who preceded Martin, Canet, Fenati and Migno. It was a very good operation for Honda who finished in the first five places.
Race results compiled by crash.net :
1. Joan mir SPA Leopard Racing (Honda) 38m 27.364s
2. John Mcphee GBR British Talent Team (Honda) 38m 27.499s
3. George Martin SPA Del Conca Gresini Moto3 (Honda) 38m 27.582s
4. Aron canet SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 38m 27.616s
5. Roman Fenati ITA Marinelli Rivacold Snipers (Honda) 38m 27.817s
6. Andrea Migno ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 38m 27.943s
7. Niccolo Antonelli ITA Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 38m 28.025s
8. Fabio DiGiannantonio ITA Del Conca Gresini Moto3 (Honda) 38m 28.242s
9. Marcos Ramirez SPA Platinum Bay Real Estate (KTM) 38m 29.057s
10. Adam Norrodin MAL SIC Racing Team (Honda) 38m 35.268s
11. Ayumu Sasaki JPN SIC Racing Team (Honda) 38m 39.585s
12. Livio Law BEL Leopard Racing (Honda) 38m 44.112s
13. Darryn binder RSA Platinum Bay Real Estate (KTM) 38m 44.150s
14. Nicholas Bulega ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 38m 44.185s
15. Tatsuki suzuki JPN SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) 38m 44.196s
16. Enea Bastianini ITA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) 38m 44.307s
17. Jules Danilo FRA Marinelli Rivacold Snipers (Honda) 38m 54.947s
18. Nakarin Atiratphuvapat THA Honda Team Asia (Honda) 38m 55.002s
19. Kaito Toba JPN Honda Team Asia (Honda) 38m 55.005s
20. Jakub Kornfeil CZE Peugeot MC Saxoprint (Peugeot) 38m 55.398s
21. Maria Herrera SPA AGR Team (KTM) 38m 55.514s
22. Manuel Pagliani ITA CIP (Mahindra) 38m 55.743s
23. Lorenzo Dalla Porta ITA MAHINDRA MOTARD Aspar (Mahindra) 38m 55.752s
24. Tony Arbolino ITA SIC58 Squadra Corse (Honda) 38m 56.884s
25. Marco Bezzecchi ITA CIP (Mahindra) 39m 21.708s
26. Will Bendsneyder NED Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 39m 37.133s
Patrick Pulkkinen END Peugeot MC Saxoprint (Peugeot) DNF
Juanfran Guevara SPA RBA BOE Racing Team (KTM) DNF
Philipp Oettl GER Südmetall Schedl GP Racing (KTM) DNF
Albert Arenas SPA MAHINDRA MOTARD Aspar (Mahindra) DNF
