2014 Misano Moto3 Preview
Heading into the 13th round of the Moto3 World Championship series at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli for the Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini, Australian Jack Miller holds a 13-point lead.
Spaniard Alex Marquez – the brother of MotoGP Champion Marc Marquez – has continued to gain strength of performance as the season has progressed, having whittled away at the 19-point lead Miller held at the Red Bull Indy GP event.
Marquez helped close the gap by finishing on the podium in second place at Silverstone, while Miller could do no better than sixth. With six rounds remaining, there is plenty of time for Marquez to top the standings, particularly if he stays consistent in scoring points and Miller misses the podium a few more times.
Meanwhile, Marquez’s Estrella Galicia 0,0 teammate Alex Rins kept himself in the hunt with a victory at Silverstone, just 0.011 of a second ahead of Marquez. Rins is in third place in the points race 29 points out of first place—still within striking distance if the right things happen.
The victory at the Hertz British GP was his first since 2013, but it need not have been; he blew a lead at Brno by celebrating what he thought was a victory with a lap still to go and ended up finishing ninth.
Spaniard Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG), who won the Red Bull Indy GP is in fourth place in the points. He finished eighth at Brno and DNF at Silverstone leaving him a distant 34 points out of first place.
Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) is 44 points behind Miller in fifth place, and has not won a race since Mugello.
In sixth place in the standings Ongetta-Rivacold’s veteran Frenchman Alexis Masbou got the first win of his long career in Brno, only to finish eighth in Great Britain.
Rookie Italian rider Enea Bastianini (Junior Team GO&FUN Moto3) could be in contention for maximum points in front of the home fans, having claimed his second consecutive podium finish at Silverstone, taking third place.