#SanMarinoGP Moto3 Race: Romano Fenati regal in the wet

On a completely wet track, Fenati showed fantastic control by totally dominating the Grand Prix without making the slightest mistake, while his opponents gave way one after the other. Romano won with an incredible lead of 28 seconds ahead of Joan Mir, Fabio di Giannantonio, Philipp Oettl, Nicolo Bulega, Jakub Kornfeil and Bo Bendsneyder.

#SanMarinoGP Moto3	2016	2017
FP1	1'43.188 Enea Bastianini	1'46.518 Aron Canet
FP2	1'42.805 Enea Bastianini	1'42.620 Fabio di Giannantonio
FP3	1'42.371 Joan Mir	1'42.413 Aron Canet
Qualification	1'42.398 Brad Binder	1'42.147 Enea Bastianini
Warm Up	1'42.688 Enea Bastianini	1'58.672 Romano Fenati
Course	Binder, Bastianini, Mir	Fenati, Mir, di Giannantonio
All time lap record	1'42.209 Kent 2015	1'42.209 Kent 2015

Before the start, 23 penalties were rained down on the riders in the Moto3 category: three places back on the grid for having driven too slowly for Bastianini and Arenas, twelve places back on the grid for having done so several times for Antonelli , Migno, Sasaki, Suzuki and Toba, 1000 euros fine for “extremely slow speed when leaving the pits” for Antonelli, Arbolino, Bendsneyder, Dalla Porta, Danilo, Guevara, Kornfeil, Loi, McPhee, Mir, Norrodin, Pulkkinen, Rodrigo, Sasaki, Suzuki and Toba.

Maria Herrera was withdrawn due to a broken right collarbone following a fall during warm-up in the wet. Livio Loi also, having hit Rodrigo's motorbike on the ground on Saturday.

The starting grid was completely disrupted following the penalties, with only two drivers retaining their initial places: Romano Fenati and Gabriel Rodrigo. Jorge Martin started from pole position with Championship leader Joan Mir and Fabio di Giannantonio at his side. The second line consisted of Enea Bastianini, Romano Fenati, and Gabriel Rodrigo. On the third we found Bo Bendsneyder, Nicolo Bulega and Aron Canet. Jules Danilo started from the tenth row, in twenty-ninth position.

At the start, the temperature was 19° for both the air and the track. Is it worth pointing out that all the drivers started on wet tires? The fastest to start at the lights was Jorge Martin ahead of Fabio di Giannantonio, Joan Mir, Romano Fenati and Bo Bendsneyder. Jules Danilo was twenty-fifth. Di Giannantonio second left the track, which he rejoined in seventh position.

Martin, Fenati and Mir opened up a small gap of 1.1 on Bastianini and Bendsneyder, who were 1.4 ahead of the chasing pack led by di Giannantonio ahead of Oettl, Canet and Rodrigo. Enea Bastianini fell without seriousness in the first corner.

Fenati, Martin and Mir remained grouped in the lead, 4 seconds ahead of Bendsneyder. Gabriel Rodrigo fell without seriousness and had to retire, while Bastianini started last. Danilo was sixteenth.

Tatsuki Suzuki fell, imitated shortly after by Atiratphuvapat. Fenati, Martin and Mir grouped together preceded Bendsneyder by 6 seconds, followed at 1.7 by di Giannantonio, Oettl and Canet. Martin failed, then Mir as well. Fenati therefore found himself alone in the lead, with 9 seconds ahead of Martin and Mir. Bendsneyder made a mistake and fell back to nineteenth position. Jules Danilo moved up to twelfth with 17 laps remaining. Lorenzo Dalla was falling.

John McPhee (then tenth) fell. Niccolo Antonelli too. Then unfortunately it was the turn of Jules Danilo, who was well up. Juanfran Guevara crashed in the first corner. Fenati was alone in the lead far in front, with an 11 second lead with 15 laps to go over Martin and Mi in the fight. But Martin fell in the first corner and Mir found himself alone in second, 13 seconds behind Fenati, and 6 seconds ahead of di Giannantonio.

Fenati and Mir rode alone in first and second positions, while third place was the subject of a great fight between di Giannantonio, Oettl and Canet.

Ayumu Sasaki fell in turn 6, without seriousness. With 10 laps remaining, Fenati dominated with an incredible lead of 19 seconds over Mir and 25 over Canet and di Giannantonio still fighting. Oettl fifth lost a little ground. He was riding the best placed KTM, behind four Hondas. Tony Arbolino (tenth) fell in turn 5. Marco Bezzecchi fell for the second time and retired. Niccolo Antonelli also fell for the second time, in turn 16 (and in turn 6 the first time). Kaito Toba imitated him shortly after in turn 15. Aron Canet did the same in turn 6, leaving di Giannantonio alone in third position.

Romano Fenati, absolutely imperial in these very difficult conditions, won ahead of Joan Mir, Fabio di Giannantonio, Philipp Oettl, Nicolo Bulega, Jakub Kornfeil and Bo Bendsneyder.

Race results:

1- Romano Fenati – Marinelli Rivacold Snipers – Honda NSF250RW – 23 giri
2- Joan Mir – Leopard Racing – Honda NSF250RW – +28.594
3- Fabio Di Giannantonio – Del Conca Gresini Moto3 – Honda NSF250RW – + 39.035
4- Philipp Öttl – Südmetall Schedl GP Racing – KTM RC 250 GP – + 55.591
5- Nicolò Bulega – Sky Racing Team VR46 – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1’02.433
6- Bo Bendsneyder – Red Bull KTM Ajo – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1’09.312
7- Jakub Kornfeil – Peugeot MC SaxoPrint – Peugeot GP3-17 – + 1'09.984
8- Albert Arenas – Aspar Mahindra Moto3 – Mahindra MGP3O – + 1’13.420
9- Andrea Migno – Sky Racing Team VR46 – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1’22.747
10- Jaume Masia – Platinum Bay Real Estate – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1'32.446
11- Manuel Pagliani – CIP – Mahindra MGP3O – + 1’39.088
12- Marcos Ramirez – Platinum Bay Real Estate – KTM RC 250 GP – + 1'39.925
13- Alex Fabbri – Minimoto Portomaggiore – Mahindra MGP3O – 1 lap
14- Enea Bastianini – Estrella Galicia 0,0 – Honda NSF250RW – 1 lap
15- Lorenzo Dalla Porta – Aspar Mahindra Moto3 – Mahindra MGP3O – 1 lap

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

1 Joan MIR-Honda 246 points

2 Romano FENATI-Honda 185

3 Aron CANET-Honda 162

4 Jorge MARTIN-Honda 121

5 Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO-Honda 117

6 Andrea MIGNO-KTM 98

7 John MCPHEE-Honda 96

8 Marcos RAMIREZ-KTM 96

9 Enea BASTIANINI-Honda 87

10 Philipp OETTL-KTM 84

…18 Jules DANILO-Honda 29