2012 Motegi Moto3 | Results

Spoiler Alert: 2012 Moto3 Championship results from Motegi listed below

At the AirAsia Grand Prix of Japan in Motegi, Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Danny Kent took his maiden victory in an extremely dramatic Moto3 race ahead of Maverick Viñales and Alessandro Tonucci.

While Kent got away from the line best, it was RW Racing GP’s Luis Salom who got past to lead the first few corners. Technomag-CIP’s Alan Techer was given a ride through penalty because of a jump-start, as the leading group with Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger, Salom, Kent and AirAsia-SIC-Ajo’s Zulfahmi Khairuddin started to pull out a gap.

Meanwhile, Mahindra Racing’s Alessandro Moretti was forced to retire with a mechanical issue, while Racing Team Germany’s Toni Finsterbusch also had a problem with his bike on the home straight.

With 13 laps remaining the top four were being closed down by a pursuing group of three led by Team Italia FMI’s Alessandro Tonucci, with Cortese and Blusens Avintia’s Maverick Viñales in tow.

Cortese, who had looked to be cruising, moved past his teammate Kent into third with six laps remaining, as Viñales also started to gather momentum. Three laps before the end Salom’s teammate Brad Binder was forced to retire, as the battle at the front truly commenced with the top six going fairing to fairing.

The last lap could not have been any more dramatic, as Salom pushed for the lead into turn one and took out leader Folger and himself.

With Cortese in the lead and Viñales in fourth, the title was set to be the German’s, however Kent and Tonucci pushed their way past Cortese, with the German touching Tonucci’s wheels and dropping his bike, lucky to escape injury as the Italian hit him. Cortese was able to remount, yet could only cross the line in sixth.

In the end it was Kent who came out best to take the chequered flag to record his first ever win, ahead of Viñales and Tonucci, who recorded his first ever podium. This now moves Viñales into second in the championship, 56 points behind Cortese.

Behind the trio in fourth was Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Alex Rins, followed by Khairuddin, Cortese, Rins’ teammate Miguel Oliveira, Racing Team Germany’s Louis Rossi, JHK t-shirt Laglisse’s Efrén Vázquez and Tonucci’s teammate Romano Fenati.

Salom was subsequently penalised for the incident with Folger, with the Spaniard deemed as “riding in an irresponsible manner during the Moto3 race, causing danger to rider Jonas Folger, which is an infringement to the article 1.21.2 of the 2012 FIM Road Racing World Championship Grand Prix regulations”, meaning he has a five place grid penalty in Sepang next weekend. No appeal was lodged by his team.

2012 Motegi Moto3 Results: