2012 Moto3
Blusens Avintia’s Maverick ViƱales won his home race from pole position at the Moto3 round of the Gran Premi Aperol de Catalunya in dominant fashion, in front of Sandro Cortese and Miguel Oliveira.
Having started in dry conditions, it was AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin who got the holeshot, yet it was Racing Team Germany’s Louis Rossi who bravely pushed his way to the front in turn two, to lead the opening stages. Pole-sitter ViƱales did not get a great start, as he was passed down to fourth by Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Sandro Cortese.
RW Racing GP’s Luis SalĆ³m also struggled at the start as he dropped to 11th place, while Bankia Aspar Team’s Hector Faubel was making his way up to the front group. An initial tussle ensued between Rossi, Cortese, ViƱales, as well as Khairuddin, which was soon joined by JHK T-Shirt Laglisse’s EfrĆ©n VĆ”zquez, who had a tremendous start.
Khairuddin led for a lap, yet was passed on the home straight by ViƱales and Rossi. The Malaysian rider soon appeared to be struggling, as more riders passed him after running wide. With 18 laps to go, ViƱales, Rossi and VƔzquez started to pull out a small lead, ahead of the following group led by Cortese.
With 13 laps to go the leading group had grown to seven riders fighting it out, with ViƱales leading from Rossi, Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex MĆ”rquez, VĆ”zquez, MĆ”rquez’s teammate Miguel Oliveira, Cortese and Faubel. ViƱales soon put the hammer down and was starting to pull away slightly, as he left the pursuing six to fight it out, with Cortese and Rossi passing aggressively going into turn one.
With 11 laps left, Team Italia FMI’s Alessandro Tonucci crashed out of the race, putting an end to his bid for points. A few laps later, Khairuddin, who came onto the straight in eighth place, pulled a stunning move into turn one to take second, though was pushed back to third a lap later by Rossi.
There was drama seven laps from the end as VĆ”zquez crashed out of the fight for second, while Oliveira’s teammate Alex Rins also crashed out of his home race. Caretta Technology’s Alexis Masbou had joined the group and was making a bid for second place five laps before the end, although positions kept swapping frequently throughout. A lap before it was misery for Mahindra Racing Team, as Danny Webb crashed out and Marcel Schrotter retired with a mechanical issue.
With three laps remaining, the fight for final podium positions was fierce, with none of the Moto3 chargers wishing to budge. Adding yet another twist, Rossi’s exhaust was dangling off his bike, while early-season sensation, Team Italia FMI’s Romano Fenati, caught up to the back of the group.
After a thrilling last lap, during which eight riders were scrapping it out for the final two podium spots, it was ViƱales who took the chequered flag by over seven seconds ahead of Cortese and Oliveira, who recorded his first ever top three spot. They were closely followed by Louis Rossi, Alexis Masbou, Alex MĆ”rquez, Hector Faubel, Zulfahmi Khairuddin, Romano Fenati, with Luis SalĆ³m completing the top ten.
With his victory, ViƱales has now closed the gap to championship leader Cortese to seven points.
2012 Catalunya Moto3 Results:
Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 25 | 25 | Maverick VIĆALES | SPA | Blusens Avintia | FTR Honda | 149.1 | 41’50.965 |
2. | 20 | 11 | Sandro CORTESE | GER | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 148.6 | +7.752 |
3. | 16 | 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Suter Honda | 148.6 | +7.853 |
4. | 13 | 96 | Louis ROSSI | FRA | Racing Team Germany | FTR Honda | 148.6 | +8.007 |
5. | 11 | 10 | Alexis MASBOU | FRA | Caretta Technology | Honda | 148.6 | +8.075 |
6. | 10 | 12 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Suter Honda | 148.6 | +8.267 |
7. | 9 | 55 | Hector FAUBEL | SPA | Bankia Aspar Team | Kalex KTM | 148.6 | +8.355 |
8. | 8 | 63 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | MAL | AirAsia-Sic-Ajo | KTM | 148.6 | +8.480 |
9. | 7 | 5 | Romano FENATI | ITA | Team Italia FMI | FTR Honda | 148.6 | +8.600 |
10. | 6 | 39 | Luis SALOM | SPA | RW Racing GP | Kalex KTM | 148.2 | +16.023 |
11. | 5 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | CZE | Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta | FTR Honda | 148.1 | +16.127 |
12. | 4 | 27 | NiccolĆ² ANTONELLI | ITA | San Carlo Gresini Moto3 | FTR Honda | 148.1 | +16.222 |
13. | 3 | 89 | Alan TECHER | FRA | Technomag-CIP-TSR | TSR Honda | 148.1 | +16.792 |
14. | 2 | 23 | Alberto MONCAYO | SPA | Bankia Aspar Team | Kalex KTM | 147.3 | +30.132 |
15. | 1 | 8 | Jack MILLER | AUS | Caretta Technology | Honda | 147.3 | +30.132 |
16. | 53 | Jasper IWEMA | NED | Moto FGR | FGR Honda | 147.3 | +30.304 | |
17. | 26 | Adrian MARTIN | SPA | JHK T-Shirt Laglisse | FTR Honda | 147.3 | +30.663 | |
18. | 21 | Ivan MORENO | SPA | Andalucia JHK Laglisse | FTR Honda | 147.3 | +30.970 | |
19. | 17 | John McPHEE | GBR | Racing Steps Foundation KRP | KRP Honda | 147.3 | +31.042 | |
20. | 52 | Danny KENT | GBR | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 146.5 | +43.738 | |
21. | 31 | Niklas AJO | FIN | TT Motion Events Racing | KTM | 146.5 | +43.765 | |
22. | 61 | Arthur SISSIS | AUS | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 146.5 | +44.119 | |
23. | 15 | Simone GROTZKYJ | ITA | Ambrogio Next Racing | Suter Honda | 145.5 | +1’02.007 | |
24. | 32 | Isaac VIĆALES | SPA | Ongetta-Centro Seta | FTR Honda | 145.0 | +1’11.320 | |
25. | 51 | Kenta FUJII | JPN | Technomag-CIP-TSR | TSR Honda | 144.5 | +1’19.060 | |
26. | 3 | Luigi MORCIANO | ITA | Ioda Team Italia | Ioda | 144.5 | +1’19.314 | |
27. | 30 | Giulian PEDONE | SWI | Ambrogio Next Racing | Suter Honda | 144.5 | +1’19.331 | |
28. | 19 | Alessandro TONUCCI | ITA | Team Italia FMI | FTR Honda | 142.1 | 1 Lap | |
Not Classified | ||||||||
99 | Danny WEBB | GBR | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 146.5 | 6 Laps | ||
77 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 146.3 | 6 Laps | ||
42 | Alex RINS | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Suter Honda | 148.8 | 7 Laps | ||
7 | Efren VAZQUEZ | SPA | JHK T-Shirt Laglisse | FTR Honda | 148.8 | 7 Laps | ||
41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | RW Racing GP | Kalex KTM | 147.1 | 16 Laps | ||
94 | Jonas FOLGER | GER | IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 136.2 | 18 Laps |