Spoiler Alert: 2013 Moto3 results from Phillip Island listed below
Alex Rins has won a thrilling Moto3 Tissot Australian Grand Prix, coming out on top of a multiple-rider battle to beat Maverick Viñales by just three thousandths of a second.
Both riders decreased the championship-leading advantage of pole-sitter Luis Salom, who completed the podium at Phillip Island.
Rins’ latest victory of 2013 was surely his most dramatic to date, ensuring he has now matched Salom on six race wins this season, as well as having won three of the last four Grand Prix. Remarkably, the top seven riders were covered by just over one second, with Niccolo Antonelli only a further 1.1 in arrears.
The majority of riders in the field found themselves in tight groups for the duration of the 23-lap race, affected by light rain on certain parts of the newly resurfaced circuit. Philipp Oettl (Interwetten Paddock Moto3) would fail to start due to engine problems and there were retirements for Francesco Bagnaia (San Carlo Team Italia) and Hyuga Watanabe (La Fonte Tascaracing), but no less than 30 riders managed the testing conditions to finish.
A titanic battle at the forefront saw a selection of riders enjoying time in the lead, whereas Salom ran as low as seventh but looked to be making his customary climb to the very sharp end in the closing minutes of the race. However it was Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3’s Jonas Folger who stole the limelight as the final lap began, shooting into the lead at Doohan curve, only to run wide and drop to sixth three corners later.
The run to line resulted in the closest finish so far this year in the World Championship, with Rins (Estrella Galicia 0,0) pipping Viñales (Team Calvo) after having both started on the second row of the grid. The winner now moves to within just five points of championship leader Salom (Red Bull KTM Ajo) with a pair of races remaining in Japan and Valencia, whereas Viñales is also in contention and 22 in arrears of the overall leader.
Rins’ teammate Alex Marquez finished fourth, with the first group completed by local favourite Jack Miller (Caretta Technology – RTG), Folger, front-row starter Efren Vazquez (Mahindra Racing) and Antonelli (GO&FUN Gresini Moto3). Avant Tecno’s Niklas Ajo was a further 12.8 seconds behind and headed the second group, with Alexis Masbou rounding out the top ten for Ongetta-Rivacold. Mahindra’s Miguel Oliveira recovered to 26th spot and was fortunate to avoid injury after flying over his handlebars at the MG hairpin on the opening lap.
2013 Phillip Island Moto3 Results:
Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 | 42 | Alex RINS | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | KTM | 162.9 | 37’40.375 |
2 | 20 | 25 | Maverick VIÑALES | SPA | Team Calvo | KTM | 162.9 | +0.003 |
3 | 16 | 39 | Luis SALOM | SPA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 162.9 | +0.178 |
4 | 13 | 12 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | KTM | 162.8 | +0.502 |
5 | 11 | 8 | Jack MILLER | AUS | Caretta Technology – RTG | FTR Honda | 162.8 | +0.601 |
6 | 10 | 94 | Jonas FOLGER | GER | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 | Kalex KTM | 162.8 | +1.077 |
7 | 9 | 7 | Efren VAZQUEZ | SPA | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 162.8 | +1.104 |
8 | 8 | 23 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | ITA | GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 | FTR Honda | 162.7 | +2.267 |
9 | 7 | 31 | Niklas AJO | FIN | Avant Tecno | KTM | 161.8 | +15.074 |
10 | 6 | 10 | Alexis MASBOU | FRA | Ongetta-Rivacold | FTR Honda | 161.7 | +15.960 |
11 | 5 | 63 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | MAL | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 161.7 | +15.974 |
12 | 4 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | CZE | Redox RW Racing GP | Kalex KTM | 161.7 | +16.105 |
13 | 3 | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | SPA | Ongetta-Centro Seta | FTR Honda | 161.7 | +16.311 |
14 | 2 | 5 | Romano FENATI | ITA | San Carlo Team Italia | FTR Honda | 161.7 | +16.532 |
15 | 1 | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Ambrogio Racing | Mahindra | 161.7 | +16.629 |
16 | 61 | Arthur SISSIS | AUS | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 161.7 | +16.665 | |
17 | 17 | John MCPHEE | GBR | Caretta Technology – RTG | FTR Honda | 161.7 | +16.898 | |
18 | 11 | Livio LOI | BEL | Marc VDS Racing Team | Kalex KTM | 161.6 | +17.353 | |
19 | 22 | Ana CARRASCO | SPA | Team Calvo | KTM | 161.5 | +19.042 | |
20 | 53 | Jasper IWEMA | NED | RW Racing GP | Kalex KTM | 160.3 | +36.382 | |
21 | 57 | Eric GRANADO | BRA | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto3 | Kalex KTM | 159.8 | +43.184 | |
22 | 43 | Luca GRUENWALD | GER | Kiefer Racing | Kalex KTM | 159.8 | +43.193 | |
23 | 9 | Toni FINSTERBUSCH | GER | Kiefer Racing | Kalex KTM | 159.8 | +43.210 | |
24 | 77 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | ITA | GO&FUN Gresini Moto3 | FTR Honda | 159.8 | +43.350 | |
25 | 89 | Alan TECHER | FRA | CIP Moto3 | TSR Honda | 159.8 | +43.357 | |
26 | 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Mahindra Racing | Mahindra | 159.7 | +44.482 | |
27 | 58 | Juanfran GUEVARA | SPA | CIP Moto3 | TSR Honda | 158.7 | +59.576 | |
28 | 21 | Luca AMATO | GER | Ambrogio Racing | Mahindra | 158.1 | +1’08.240 | |
29 | 80 | Hafiq AZMI | MAL | La Fonte Tascaracing | FTR Honda | 156.4 | +1’33.737 | |
30 | 75 | Lachlan KAVNEY | AUS | Bullet Racing | Bullet | 149.6 | 1 Lap | |
Not Classified | ||||||||
29 | Hyuga WATANABE | JPN | La Fonte Tascaracing | FTR Honda | 159.0 | 13 Laps | ||
4 | Francesco BAGNAIA | ITA | San Carlo Team Italia | FTR Honda | 159.4 | 16 Laps | ||
Not Starting | ||||||||
65 | Philipp OETTL | GER | Interwetten Paddock Moto3 | Kalex KTM | 0 Lap |
2013 Moto3 Championship Point Standings:
Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Luis SALOM | KTM | SPA | 300 |
2 | Alex RINS | KTM | SPA | 295 |
3 | Maverick VIÑALES | KTM | SPA | 278 |
4 | Alex MARQUEZ | KTM | SPA | 175 |
5 | Jonas FOLGER | Kalex KTM | GER | 147 |
6 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Mahindra | POR | 131 |
7 | Jack MILLER | FTR Honda | AUS | 100 |
8 | Alexis MASBOU | FTR Honda | FRA | 84 |
9 | Efren VAZQUEZ | Mahindra | SPA | 71 |
10 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | KTM | MAL | 65 |
11 | Jakub KORNFEIL | Kalex KTM | CZE | 63 |
12 | Arthur SISSIS | KTM | AUS | 59 |
13 | Romano FENATI | FTR Honda | ITA | 57 |
14 | Brad BINDER | Mahindra | RSA | 56 |
15 | Niklas AJO | KTM | FIN | 54 |
16 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | FTR Honda | ITA | 40 |
17 | Isaac VIÑALES | FTR Honda | SPA | 38 |
18 | Philipp OETTL | Kalex KTM | GER | 24 |
19 | John MCPHEE | FTR Honda | GBR | 15 |
20 | Danny WEBB | Suter Honda | GBR | 15 |
21 | Jasper IWEMA | Kalex KTM | NED | 8 |
22 | Eric GRANADO | Kalex KTM | BRA | 7 |
23 | Alessandro TONUCCI | FTR Honda | ITA | 6 |
24 | Alan TECHER | TSR Honda | FRA | 6 |
25 | Livio LOI | Kalex KTM | BEL | 4 |
26 | Matteo FERRARI | FTR Honda | ITA | 1 |
27 | Ana CARRASCO | KTM | SPA | 1 |