Typical of a Grand Prix motorcycle racing weekend, the smallest class is always set to race first. In regards to rain, this can either be a great or bad thing.
This weekend at Circuit of the Americas just outside of Austin, Texas, running ahead of Moto2 and MotoGP was somewhat of a negative thing. Not that the race was a washout; some wet parts of the 3.426-mile track caught a few riders by surprise, causing accidents.
The following riders crashed due to loss of traction: Mapfre Team’s Francesco Bagnaia, RW Racing GP’s Livio Loi, Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira, Leopard Racing’s Hiroki Ono, Ongetta-Rivacold’s Niccolo Antonelli and Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Jorge Navarro.
One rider that wasn’t affected by loss of traction was Danny Kent, who took his first win of 2015 Moto3 at Circuit of the Americas, and the third Moto3 race of his career.
The British rider Kent was quick all weekend, leading qualifying by over a half of second. But it wasn’t an easy win for Kent. He fell back to fifth after a bad start, and had to work his way through the field.
By the fourth lap, though, he was in the lead and would never be challenged again. Kent took the Austin Moto3 win by 8.532 seconds ahead of Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Fabio Quartararo, and 8.652 seconds ahead of Leopard Racing’s Efren Vazquez.
Quartararo was in an intense battle for second with Saxoprint RTG’s Alexis Masbou, but the winner at the season opener in Qatar crashed out on the final corner. He was able to rejoin the grid and finish 16th.
As for Kent’s performance, MotoGP said it was It is unusual to see one rider dominate in a Moto3 race, but no one had a response to the lap times that Kent was putting in, and for the rest of the riders it became a fight for the remaining spots on the podium.
Gresini Racing Team Moto3’s Enea Bastianini took fourth, giving Honda a 1-2-3-4 finish. Fifth went to Red Bull KTM’s Ajo’s Brad Binder.
Due to his win at COTA and his third-place finish at Qatar, Kent now has the Moto3 points lead with 41. He leads Bastianini by eight points. The series now heads directly to Argentina’s Termas de Rio Hondo for round three.
2015 Austin Moto3 Results from Circuit of the Americas:
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 52 | Danny KENT | GBR | Leopard Racing | Honda | 143.3 | 41’32.287 |
| 2 | 20 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | FRA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda | 142.8 | +8.532 |
| 3 | 16 | 7 | Efren VAZQUEZ | SPA | Leopard Racing | Honda | 142.8 | +8.652 |
| 4 | 13 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | ITA | Gresini Racing Team Moto3 | Honda | 142.8 | +8.811 |
| 5 | 11 | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 142.7 | +9.556 |
| 6 | 10 | 17 | John MCPHEE | GBR | SAXOPRINT RTG | Honda | 142.5 | +13.869 |
| 7 | 9 | 55 | Andrea LOCATELLI | ITA | Gresini Racing Team Moto3 | Honda | 142.1 | +20.442 |
| 8 | 8 | 5 | Romano FENATI | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM | 142.1 | +20.611 |
| 9 | 7 | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | SPA | Husqvarna Factory Laglisse | Husqvarna | 142.1 | +20.863 |
| 10 | 6 | 98 | Karel HANIKA | CZE | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 142.1 | +20.913 |
| 11 | 5 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | CZE | Drive M7 SIC | KTM | 142.1 | +21.249 |
| 12 | 4 | 16 | Andrea MIGNO | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM | 141.9 | +23.725 |
| 13 | 3 | 65 | Philipp OETTL | GER | Schedl GP Racing | KTM | 141.5 | +32.218 |
| 14 | 2 | 31 | Niklas AJO | FIN | RBA Racing Team | KTM | 141.2 | +36.702 |
| 15 | 1 | 12 | Matteo FERRARI | ITA | San Carlo Team Italia | Mahindra | 141.2 | +37.283 |
| 16 | 10 | Alexis MASBOU | FRA | SAXOPRINT RTG | Honda | 140.6 | +47.027 | |
| 17 | 6 | Maria HERRERA | SPA | Husqvarna Factory Laglisse | Husqvarna | 140.0 | +59.257 | |
| 18 | 2 | Remy GARDNER | AUS | CIP | Mahindra | 139.7 | +1’03.748 | |
| 19 | 91 | Gabriel RODRIGO | ARG | RBA Racing Team | KTM | 139.7 | +1’04.611 | |
| 20 | 63 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | MAL | Drive M7 SIC | KTM | 139.0 | +1’16.968 | |
| 21 | 19 | Alessandro TONUCCI | ITA | Outox Reset Drink Team | Mahindra | 138.4 | +1’27.397 | |
| 22 | 22 | Ana CARRASCO | SPA | RBA Racing Team | KTM | 137.7 | +1’40.409 | |
| 23 | 23 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | ITA | Ongetta-Rivacold | Honda | 137.6 | +1’43.841 | |
| 24 | 29 | Stefano MANZI | ITA | San Carlo Team Italia | Mahindra | 137.4 | +1’46.105 | |
| 25 | 11 | Livio LOI | BEL | RW Racing GP | Honda | 131.5 | 1 Lap | |
| Not Classified | ||||||||
| 24 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | JPN | CIP | Mahindra | 137.4 | 1 Lap | ||
| 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 142.5 | 8 Laps | ||
| 21 | Francesco BAGNAIA | ITA | MAPFRE Team MAHINDRA | Mahindra | 142.4 | 9 Laps | ||
| 9 | Jorge NAVARRO | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda | 142.3 | 9 Laps | ||
| 88 | Jorge MARTIN | SPA | MAPFRE Team MAHINDRA | Mahindra | 128.4 | 10 Laps | ||
| 76 | Hiroki ONO | JPN | Leopard Racing | Honda | 142.0 | 12 Laps | ||
| 95 | Jules DANILO | FRA | Ongetta-Rivacold | Honda | 140.7 | 13 Laps | ||
| 40 | Darryn BINDER | RSA | Outox Reset Drink Team | Mahindra | 134.6 | 17 Laps | ||
| Not Finished 1st Lap | ||||||||
| 58 | Juanfran GUEVARA | SPA | MAPFRE Team MAHINDRA | Mahindra | 0 Lap | |||
