Honda have a brilliant start to the 2017 Moto3 World Championship

Honda had a brilliant start to the 2017 Moto3 Word Championship, taking the top five places at the end of a typically thrilling multi-rider battle. The top eight finishers passed the checkered flag separated by less than nine tenths of a second!

The lead pack was that close throughout the 18 laps, with 19-year-old Spaniard Joan Mir (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) retaking the lead on the final lap to beat Scotsman John McPhee (British Talent Team Honda NSF250RW) by 0.135 seconds and pole-starter Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Racing Moto3 Honda NSF250RW) by a further 0.083 seconds.

This was Mir’s first race on an NSF250RW and it took him to his second career Grand Prix win. Last year he finished the championship in fifth position, after winning his first GP success at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.

Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda NSF250RW) and Romano Fenati (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers Honda NSF250RW) completed the top five, ending the race less than half a second behind the winner. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Racing Moto3 Honda NSF250RW) also played his part in the leading skirmish, completing the race in eighth position.

Malaysian teenager Adam Norrodin (SIC Racing Team Honda NSF250RW) made an excellent start to his second World Championship season, completing the top ten, comfortably ahead of Ayumu Sasaki (SIC Racing Team Honda NSF250RW) and Livio Loi (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW). Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse Honda NSF250RW) scored the final championship point in 15th place. Ten of the 15 points-scorers rode NSF250RWs.

The MotoGP circus leaves Qatar tomorrow, making its way to Argentina for the second round of the 2017 MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 World Championships on April 9.

Joan Mir

“It was a tough race and a typical Moto3 race, with a big train of riders fighting from start to finish. I’m happy because I could control the race from the early laps. My thanks to Honda and to my team because my machine was so strong. We will do our best to keep working like this and continue in the same way.”

John McPhee

“I had a difficult end to last year, with the accident at Phillip Island, so I’m very grateful to have got this opportunity, so my thanks to Dorna. It’s been a long winter of training and I’ve ticked all the boxes, changed my training regime and learned a few new things. I felt confident in the race and was unlucky to miss the win by such a small margin, but this is still a great podium and I have to say thanks also to Honda for giving us a really strong bike.”

Jorge Martin

“First, my thanks to Honda because we had no worries at all about speed at this circuit. It was a great race but I lost some rear grip as the race went on and it was difficult to maintain my usual pace, but I worked hard and we got a podium, so a big thank you to my team for all their hard work.”