2012 Brno Moto3 | Results

2012 Moto3 Championship

In an enthralling Moto3 race at the bwin Grand Prix České republiky in Brno it was Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger who held his nerve in drying conditions to take victory in front of Luis Salom and Sandro Cortese.

Despite no rain falling it was declared a wet race from the start, with most of the riders opting for slick tyres as a dry line was forming quickly. It was AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin who got the holeshot, yet it was JHK T-Shirt Laglisse’s Efrén Vázquez, on wet tyres, who soon took the lead on the still very damp track. With 18 laps left he was however being chased down by Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger, who had made his way into second.

It was two laps later that Folger, on slicks, pushed past for the lead, as the ever-drying track was causing Vázquez problems. Behind the two, Mahindra Racing’s local replacement for the injured Danny Webb, Miroslav Popov, Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta’s Jakub Kornfeil and Racing steps Foundation KRP’s John McPhee were having a great race dicing for podium positions. Half way through the race, both Khairuddin and McPhee had gone past Vázquez, as the pursuing group containing Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Sandro Cortese closed in on that fifth spot. In the meantime, MZ Racing’s Toni Finsterbusch retired with a mechanical issue.

Caretta Technology’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi was forced to retire with six laps remaining, whilst Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales had slowly fought his way up into fourth place. It was heartache for Khairuddin as he crashed out of the race with four laps left, as Popov fell coming onto the straight. The final laps provided the typical battle between Cortese and Viñales for the final podium spot, with Kornfeil struggling to keep the pair off. Going into the final lap, RW racing GP’s Luis Salom, who had been stalking behind, snuck behind Cortese, with Viñales and Kornfeil behind.

In the end was Folger who crossed the finish line first with a near six-second gap to take his second-ever GP win ahead of Salom, who had pushed passed Cortese in the final turns. This now gives Cortese a 32-point lead at the top of the championship standings ahead of Viñales, who came in fourth. Behind him were Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins, Kornfeil, Cortese’s teammate Danny Kent, Team Italia FMI’s Romano Fenati, Rins’ teammate Miguel Oliveira and Fenati’s teammate Alessandro Tonucci.

2012 Brno Moto3 Results: