Austin Moto3: Fenati denies Navarro maiden race victory
Romano Fenati cruised to a dominant win in the third round of the Moto3 series at Austin, the Sky Racing VR46 rider beating closest rival Jorge Navarro by six seconds.
Fenati converted a second row grid slot into third at the end of the first lap, and made short work of poleman Phillip Oettl on the second tour before setting about closing on early leader Navarro.
The Estrella Galicia man, who has yet to win a grand prix, had established a cushion of 1.6s after two laps, but was soon reeled in by Fenati as Oettl fell into the clutches of a fast-starting Fabio Quartararo further back.
The decisive moment of the race arrived on lap 8, just shy of mid-distance, as Navarro ran wide at Turn 1 to allow Fenati into a lead he would never relinquish.
By lap 13, the gap between the duo had grown to three seconds, Fenati going on to take his seventh race victory in Moto3 by 6.612s at the chequered flag.
Leopard Racing's Quartararo had been on course for the final podium place before he was slowed by a late mechanical problem, meaning the fight for third was between Oettl and points leader Brad Binder (Red Bull Ajo KTM).
The South African rider made the pass stick on his German rival at Turn 12 on the final lap to make it three podiums in three starts this season, Oettl just missing out on equalling his best finish at this level.
Andrea Locatelli completed the top five on the best of the Leopard bikes ahead of Gresini's Enea Bastianini and top rookie Aron Canet aboard the second of the Estrella Galicia bikes.
The trio had been fighting with Niccolo Antonelli, who had carved his way up from P30 on the grid to seventh before crashing out on the penultimate lap.
That promoted Livio Loi (RW Racing) to eighth place ahead of Jules Danilo (Ongetta-Rivacold) and Niccolo Bulega (Sky Racing VR46). Quartararo limped home in 13th place again, having taken the same position at both Qatar and Argentina.
Race results:
Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Time |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Romano Fenati | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM RC 250 GP | 41:14.868 |
2 | Jorge Navarro | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda NSF250RW | +6.612 |
3 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM RC 250 GP | +10.535 |
4 | Philipp Oettl | Schedl GP Racing | KTM RC 250 GP | +10.975 |
5 | Andrea Locatelli | Leopard Racing | KTM RC 250 GP | +13.845 |
6 | Enea Bastianini | Gresini Racing Moto3 | Honda NSF250RW | +14.123 |
7 | Aron Canet | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda NSF250RW | +16.309 |
8 | Livio Loi | RW Racing GP BV | Honda NSF250RW | +21.841 |
9 | Jules Danilo | Ongetta-Rivacold | Honda NSF250RW | +22.004 |
10 | Nicolo Bulega | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM RC 250 GP | +22.351 |
11 | Jakub Kornfeil | Drive M7 SIC Racing Team | Honda NSF250RW | +22.714 |
12 | Juan Francisco Guevara | RBA Racing Team | KTM RC 250 GP | +22.764 |
13 | Fabio Quartararo | Leopard Racing | KTM RC 250 GP | +26.024 |
14 | Francesco Bagnaia | ASPAR Mahindra Team Moto3 | Mahindra MGP30 | +28.161 |
15 | Andrea Migno | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM RC 250 GP | +28.259 |
16 | Alexis Masbou | Peugeot MC Saxoprint | Peugeot MGP30 | +39.223 |
17 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Gresini Racing Moto3 | Honda NSF250RW | +39.348 |
18 | Gabriel Rodrigo | RBA Racing Team | KTM RC 250 GP | +39.739 |
19 | Tatsuki Suzuki | CIP-Unicom Starker | Mahindra MGP30 | +40.160 |
20 | Khairul Idham Pawi | Honda Team Asia | Honda NSF250RW | +48.107 |
21 | John McPhee | Peugeot MC Saxoprint | Peugeot MGP30 | +48.334 |
22 | Bo Bendsneyder | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM RC 250 GP | +48.442 |
23 | Maria Herrera | Team Laglisse | KTM RC 250 GP | +1:15.871 |
24 | Lorenzo Petrarca | 3570 Team Italia | Mahindra MGP30 | +1:16.043 |
25 | Hiroki Ono | Honda Team Asia | Honda NSF250RW | +1:19.441 |
26 | Fabio Spiranelli | CIP-Unicom Starker | Mahindra MGP30 | +1:45.929 |
R | Niccolo Antonelli | Ongetta-Rivacold | Honda NSF250RW | |
R | Karel Hanika | Platinum Bay Real Estate | Mahindra MGP30 | |
R | Stefano Valtulini | 3570 Team Italia | Mahindra MGP30 | |
R | Jorge Martin | ASPAR Mahindra Team Moto3 | Mahindra MGP30 | |
R | Darryn Binder | Platinum Bay Real Estate | Mahindra MGP30 | |
R | Joan Mir | Leopard Racing | KTM RC 250 GP | |
R | Adam Norrodin | Drive M7 SIC Racing Team | Honda NSF250RW |
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