2012 Moto3 Championship
At this weekend’s Moto3 race at the Hertz British Grand Prix at Silverstone it was Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales who took a hard-fought victory in front of Luis Salóm and Sandro Cortese.
In the best conditions seen all weekend the Moto3 contingent got underway with Caretta Technology’s Alexis Masbou getting the holeshot in front of JHK T-Shirt Laglisse’s Efrén Vázquez. However in true Moto3TM fashion a group at the front soon formed with Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales, RW Racing GP’s Luis Salóm, Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Sandro Cortese, Racing Team Germany’s Louis Rossi and Team Italia FMI’s Romano Fenati.
Masbou’s teammate Jack Miller was an early crasher on lap one, while Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins also crashed out with 16 laps to go. Miller suffered a fractured left collarbone, whilst Rins suffered a fracture to his second metacarpus on his left hand, and a fracture to his second finger on his right hand. The front group was being led in stages by a mix of Viñales, Salóm and Vázquez, while Cortese and Rossi were touching fairings behind.
With 13 laps remaining, IodaRacing Team’s Jonas Folger’s bad luck continued as his race finished early, with British wild card entrant John McPhee from the Racing Steps Foundation KRP crashing out, but managing to remount. With eight laps left, Giulian Pedone suffered a problem, as his race ended prematurely. Two laps later Viñales tried to make a break as the field started to stretch slightly, however Salóm and Cortese were sticking closely to the leader’s tail. It was heartbreak for Mahindra Racing’s local boy Danny Webb, as he was forced to retire in front of his home crowd.
It was a nail-biting last lap as Cortese took Salóm for second, who had been fighting with Viñales. Yet Salóm was battling until the end and put in a tough move to regain second. It was drama for Le Mans race-winner Rossi who lost the front end in the final turns, as he missed out on the scrap to the line. The race ended with Viñales crossing the finish line to take his third victory this season and the championship lead, ahead of Salóm and Cortese, who complete the podium. They finished ahead of Masbou in fourth, followed by Vázquez, Kent, Fenati, Sissis, Khairuddin and Oliveira.
2012 Silverstone Moto3 Results:
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 25 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Blusens Avintia | FTR Honda | 154.6 | 38’55.210 |
| 2. | 20 | 39 | Luis SALOM | SPA | RW Racing GP | Kalex KTM | 154.6 | +0.933 |
| 3. | 16 | 11 | Sandro CORTESE | GER | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 154.6 | +1.023 |
| 4. | 13 | 10 | Alexis MASBOU | FRA | Caretta Technology | Honda | 154.1 | +8.100 |
| 5. | 11 | 7 | Efren VAZQUEZ | SPA | JHK Laglisse | FTR Honda | 154.1 | +8.414 |
| 6. | 10 | 52 | Danny KENT | GBR | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 154.1 | +8.637 |
| 7. | 9 | 5 | Romano FENATI | ITA | Team Italia FMI | FTR Honda | 154.0 | +8.940 |
| 8. | 8 | 61 | Arthur SISSIS | AUS | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 154.0 | +9.046 |
| 9. | 7 | 63 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | MAL | AirAsia-Sic-Ajo | KTM | 154.0 | +9.208 |
| 10. | 6 | 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Suter Honda | 153.6 | +15.613 |
| 11. | 5 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | CZE | Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta | FTR Honda | 153.3 | +20.397 |
| 12. | 4 | 55 | Hector FAUBEL | SPA | Bankia Aspar Team | Kalex KTM | 153.3 | +20.559 |
| 13. | 3 | 27 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | ITA | San Carlo Gresini Moto3 | FTR Honda | 153.2 | +21.369 |
| 14. | 2 | 31 | Niklas AJO | FIN | TT Motion Events Racing | KTM | 152.8 | +27.526 |
| 15. | 1 | 23 | Alberto MONCAYO | SPA | Bankia Aspar Team | Kalex KTM | 152.8 | +27.708 |
| 16. | 19 | Alessandro TONUCCI | ITA | Team Italia FMI | FTR Honda | 152.8 | +28.032 | |
| 17. | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | RW Racing GP | Kalex KTM | 152.3 | +35.001 | |
| 18. | 53 | Jasper IWEMA | NED | Moto FGR | FGR Honda | 151.0 | +55.456 | |
| 19. | 9 | Toni FINSTERBUSCH | GER | Cresto Guide MZ Racing | Honda | 151.0 | +55.559 | |
| 20. | 15 | Simone GROTZKYJ | ITA | Ambrogio Next Racing | Suter Honda | 151.0 | +55.829 | |
| 21. | 89 | Alan TECHER | FRA | Technomag-CIP-TSR | TSR Honda | 151.0 | +56.230 | |
| 22. | 21 | Ivan MORENO | SPA | Andalucia JHK Laglisse | FTR Honda | 151.0 | +56.385 | |
| 23. | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | SPA | Ongetta-Centro Seta | FTR Honda | 150.4 | +1’05.383 | |
| 24. | 51 | Kenta FUJII | JPN | Technomag-CIP-TSR | TSR Honda | 150.0 | +1’11.283 | |
| 25. | 3 | Luigi MORCIANO | ITA | Ioda Team Italia | Ioda | 149.6 | +1’18.155 | |
| 26. | 77 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 144.2 | 1 Lap | |
| 27. | 30 | Giulian PEDONE | SWI | Ambrogio Next Racing | Suter Honda | 142.0 | 1 Lap | |
| 28. | 17 | John McPHEE | GBR | Racing Steps Foundation KRP | KRP Honda | 133.0 | 2 Laps | |
| Not Classified | ||||||||
| 96 | Louis ROSSI | FRA | Racing Team Germany | FTR Honda | 154.1 | 1 Lap | ||
| 79 | Fraser ROGERS | GBR | Racing Steps Foundation KRP | KRP Honda | 150.5 | 3 Laps | ||
| 99 | Danny WEBB | GBR | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 151.3 | 6 Laps | ||
| 26 | Adrian MARTIN | SPA | JHK Laglisse | FTR Honda | 150.3 | 9 Laps | ||
| 94 | Jonas FOLGER | GER | IodaRacing Project | Ioda | 145.8 | 13 Laps | ||
| 42 | Alex RINS | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Suter Honda | 147.2 | 16 Laps | ||
| 8 | Jack MILLER | AUS | Caretta Technology | Honda | 0 Lap | |||
2012 Moto3 Championship Point Standings:
| Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Maverick VIÑALES | FTR Honda | SPA | 105 |
| 2. | Sandro CORTESE | KTM | GER | 103 |
| 3. | Luis SALOM | Kalex KTM | SPA | 75 |
| 4. | Romano FENATI | FTR Honda | ITA | 61 |
| 5. | Louis ROSSI | FTR Honda | FRA | 45 |
| 6. | Alex RINS | Suter Honda | SPA | 44 |
| 7. | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | KTM | MAL | 44 |
| 8. | Alexis MASBOU | Honda | FRA | 42 |
| 9. | Niccolò ANTONELLI | FTR Honda | ITA | 38 |
| 10. | Alberto MONCAYO | Kalex KTM | SPA | 36 |
| 11. | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Suter Honda | POR | 33 |
| 12. | Arthur SISSIS | KTM | AUS | 31 |
| 13. | Hector FAUBEL | Kalex KTM | SPA | 28 |
| 14. | Danny KENT | KTM | GBR | 26 |
| 15. | Efren VAZQUEZ | FTR Honda | SPA | 22 |
| 16. | Alan TECHER | TSR Honda | FRA | 18 |
| 17. | Jakub KORNFEIL | FTR Honda | CZE | 17 |
| 18. | Alex MARQUEZ | Suter Honda | SPA | 15 |
| 19. | Ivan MORENO | FTR Honda | SPA | 10 |
| 20. | Jasper IWEMA | FGR Honda | NED | 9 |
| 21. | Giulian PEDONE | Suter Honda | SWI | 7 |
| 22. | Alessandro TONUCCI | FTR Honda | ITA | 7 |
| 23. | Niklas AJO | KTM | FIN | 6 |
| 24. | Jonas FOLGER | Ioda | GER | 5 |
| 25. | Brad BINDER | Kalex KTM | RSA | 5 |
| 26. | Marcel SCHROTTER | Mahindra | GER | 4 |
| 27. | Kevin HANUS | Honda | GER | 3 |
| 28. | Jack MILLER | Honda | AUS | 1 |
