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Australia
Race report

Mugello Moto3: Arbolino edges Dalla Porta for maiden win

Tony Arbolino scored his maiden grand prix victory on home soil at Mugello after drafting past Lorenzo Dalla Porta on the run to the finish line at the end of a pulsating Moto3 race.

Podium: winner Tony Arbolino, Team O

Podium: winner Tony Arbolino, Team O

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Snipers Honda rider Arbolino was third exiting the final corner, but managed to slipstream his way by both Jaume Masia's Bester Capital KTM and Dalla Porta's Leopard Honda to sneak the win by 0.029 seconds.

The top five riders were covered by just 0.257s at the line, although it was Dalla Porta that commanded the race for much of its 20-lap distance.

He had opened up an advantage of 0.6s - no mean feat with the dramatic slipstream effect at Mugello - at the end of lap seven after grabbing the lead off Arbolino at the start of lap four.

But poleman Arbolino was able to drag himself back into contention and repassed Dalla Porta to lead on lap nine, and the lead pack remained tightly bunched until the finish.

Dalla Porta even recovered from running wide on lap 11, passing five riders at the last corner Bucine to thrust himself right back into the frame for a first win of 2019.

He then traded the lead with Arbolino as well as the two SIC58 Hondas of Tatsuki Suzuki and Niccolo Antonelli, and looked well-placed to come out on top until he was nudged wide by Masia at San Donato at the start of the final lap.

Again, Dalla Porta regrouped, retaking the lead several corners later, but he didn't have enough of a margin exiting Bucine and found himself outdragged to the finish line by Arbolino.

Behind third-placed man Masia, Antonelli took fourth, while Dennis Foggia recorded his best finish of the season so far with fifth for Sky Racing VR46 KTM.

Le Mans winner John McPhee was sixth on his Petronas Honda, followed by pre-race points leader Aron Canet (Max Racing Team KTM) and Suzuki.

Notable retirements included Gabriel Rodrigo, who crashed his Gresini Honda on the fourth lap having briefly led early on, Dalla Porta's Leopard teammate Marcos Ramirez, who pitted with mechanical trouble, and Qatar winner Kaito Toba, who high-sided on lap 17 and took fellow countryman Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas) with him.

Romano Fenati (Snipers) also got caught up in a late crash with Andrea Migno (Nieto KTM).

Canet continues to hold a slender lead in the riders' standings, with Dalla Porta closing to just three points in second and Antonelli only a further 10 back in third.

Race results:

Cla # Rider Bike Laps Gap
1 14 Italy Tony Arbolino
Honda 20
2 48 Italy Lorenzo Dalla Porta
Honda 20 0.029
3 5 Spain Jaume Masia
KTM 20 0.078
4 23 Italy Niccolo Antonelli
Honda 20 0.156
5 7 Italy Dennis Foggia
KTM 20 0.267
6 17 United Kingdom John McPhee
Honda 20 0.403
7 44 Spain Arón Canet
KTM 20 0.559
8 24 Japan Tatsuki Suzuki
Honda 20 0.595
9 13 Italy Celestino Vietti Ramus
KTM 20 1.566
10 40 South Africa Darryn Binder
KTM 20 1.597
11 25 Spain Raúl Fernández
KTM 20 2.519
12 75 Spain Albert Arenas
KTM 20 2.554
13 11 Spain Sergio García
Honda 20 2.578
14 84 Czech Republic Jakub Kornfeil
KTM 20 22.830
15 76 Kazakhstan Makar Yurchenko
KTM 20 26.669
16 31 Indonesia Gerry Salim
Honda 20 26.745
17 6 Ryusei Yamanaka
Honda 20 26.777
18 61 Turkey Can Öncü
KTM 20 26.779
19 77 Spain Vicente Pérez
KTM 20 26.873
20 12 Czech Republic Filip Salač
KTM 20 29.782
21 54 Italy Riccardo Rossi
Honda 20 51.331
71 Japan Ayumu Sasaki
Honda 16 4 Laps
27 Japan Kaito Toba
Honda 16 4 Laps
16 Italy Andrea Migno
KTM 15 5 Laps
55 Italy Romano Fenati
Honda 15 5 Laps
42 Spain Marcos Ramirez
Honda 11 9 Laps
69 United Kingdom Tom Booth-Amos
KTM 9 11 Laps
21 Spain Alonso López
Honda 7 13 Laps
3 Italy Kevin Zannoni
TM Racing 7 13 Laps
19 Argentina Gabriel Rodrigo
Honda 3 17 Laps
22 Japan Kazuki Masaki
KTM 2 18 Laps

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