Joan Mir takes another stunning Moto3 win

Moto3 star Joan Mir (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) performed another fabulous disappearing act today, fighting through from tenth on the grid to take the lead on lap six and then leave the rest of the Moto3 pack way behind. While a gang of up to 14 riders disputed second place Mir maintained an astonishingly fast pace on his NSF250RW, at one point stretching his lead to more than four seconds.

Finally the 19-year-old Spaniard crossed the finish line three-tenths ahead of Philipp Oettl (KTM), who was three seconds in front of the remarkable Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Racing Moto3 Honda NSF250RW), who was contesting his first race since returning to injury and had qualified 13th. Just 1.6 seconds covering second place to 14th, with seven Hondas in the top ten.

Livio Loi (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) lost the last podium place to Martin in the final moments of the race, passing the checkered flag a fraction behind the Spaniard. There were five more Hondas in the midst of the battle for second place. Front-row starter Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda NSF250RW) finished fifth, Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Racing Moto3 Honda NSF250RW) was sixth, Adam Norrodin (SIC Racing Team Honda NSF250RW) was eighth, Enea Bastianini (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda NSF250RW) ninth and Romano Fenati (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers Honda NSF250RW) 13th.

Mir’s amazing record of seven victories puts him 64 points ahead in the championship chase, with Fenati second, Canet third, Martin fourth, Di Giannantonio fifth and John McPhee (British Team Honda NSF250RW) sixth; making it a Honda lock-out of the first half-dozen championship positions.

Grand Prix racing now heads north west to Silverstone in Britain, the country that hosted the first World Championship Grand Prix, on the Isle of Man, in June 1949.

Joan Mir

“It was a very hard race, but I wanted to win it! Throughout the weekend we worked very well with the team. In fact on this circuit we knew we had something more than the opponents and we saw that in the race! Starting from tenth I was worried a bit, but after the terrible start I had, I gave my best to recover. I did not want to be in the group because in this category it is always a risk, so I pushed to make the break. When I was in the lead and saw my advantage at 0.5s I said it was time to push more and open the gap more. My strongest point on this circuit was in braking. Sixty-four points is a lot, almost three races! It’s a pity that we still have lots of other races! Seriously, I’m sure I’m looking at the rankings but I do not want to make calculations. We have to keep our feet on the ground and try to always go to points.”

Jorge Martin

“It’s a podium, but even though I’m yet to know how it is to be on the top step, this one felt very much like a win. I thought I had the pace to go and get Mir, but the group of riders I was with didn’t allow me to. After all, with only six consecutive laps completed during the weekend, I wasn’t even sure I could finish the race. This is, without a doubt, the best podium of my career.”

Livio Loi

“It was a great race, although the start was very difficult, losing positions and finding myself 18th on the first lap. From that moment I began to attack, pushing further and further. On the penultimate lap I was touched by another rider and I lost ground. Even then I recovered, but the last lap was a lottery: I tried to take Oettl, but Martin went in the slipstream. I heartily thank the whole team.”