Romano Fenati, winner at Austin Moto3Three different races, three different winners. This is the way the 2016 Moto3 Championship has played out since the season opener in Qatar.During that race under the floodlights of Losail International Circuit, Ongetta-Rivacold Honda’s Niccolo Antonelli earned the win ahead of Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Brad Binder by a mere 0.007 of a second.
Race two at Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina was much different; Honda Team Asia’s Khaurul Idham Pawi became the first Malaysian to win a Grand Prix motorcycle race, and he did it with pure domination. Pawl was able to earn the win by over 26 seconds ahead of Estrella Galicia 0,0’s Jorge Navarro.
When the series headed to Austin’s Circuit of the Americas this past weekend, Navarro showed the most strength, and even earned the pole. But Navarro couldn’t hold off a certain rider during a race that was delayed due to oil spilled on the track. This rider – SKY Racing Team VR46’s Romano Fenati, eventually earned the win after 18 laps around the 3.4-mile Texan Formula 1 circuit containing 20 corners.Fenati, whose team is funded by nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, crossed the finish line 6.612 seconds ahead of Navarro, and 10.535 ahead of Binder.After the race, Fenati said: “In the first part of the race my thinking was that Navarro would go first and far away. But I never gave up and I pushed and push very hard to try and make my rhythm. My feeling with the bike was fantastic since yesterday in the free practice. I didn’t lose concentration and lap-by-lap I tried to make consistent laps.”With his win, Fenati moves to third in the Moto3 point standings after three of 18 rounds. Fenati 38 points, 11 behind Navarro (49) and 13 behind series leader Binder (52).
Following is the official Moto3 Recap:
Race Action from Austin Moto3The start of the Moto3 World Championship race was delayed due to an oil spillage down the back straight. Riders and teams calmly sat in the pits and waited for the oil to be cleared. Just 15 minutes after the scheduled start time, riders lined up on the grid, the sun shining down and burning off many of the clouds overhead. As is often the case, the entirety of the field opted for medium front and rear tires.For the first time in his career it was Philipp Oettl (Schedl GP Racing) who started from pole, but a near perfect start saw Navarro get the holeshot into Turn 1. The Spaniard immediately began to push, taking Oettl and Fenati with him through the opening corners.Binder started 12th and was up to sixth after just half a lap, Niccolo Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold) making similar progress further down the order. As the field crossed the line for the first time, Navarro would have a lead of over 0.7s as Fenati nipped up the inside of Oettl for second. The leading trio had a clear second advantage, Jakub Kornfeil (Drive M7 SIC Racing) heading the chasing group as they attempted to close the gap.Fighting in the second group was fierce as the likes of Binder, Fabio Quartararo (Leopard Racing), Kornfeil and Enea Bastianini (Gresini Racing Moto3) all tussled for supremacy. All the while Navarro set successive fastest laps to extend his lead, but on the fourth lap Fenati upped his pace and began to close in, setting the first 2’16 of the race which would soon be followed by Navarro’s first 2’16.Although clear gaps of over a second would appear at the head of the race, riders in the leading five would continue to trade fastest sectors. As the seventh lap began, the gap between Navarro and Fenati dropped to under a second for the first time since the start of the race. With the leading two chasing each other and Binder and Quartararo dicing over fourth, Oettl was having a lonely race in third position, the German focusing on setting consistent times.At the start of lap 8, Navarro made a mistake into Turn 1 and allowed Fenati to slide through with ease. Fenati tried to break away but Navarro rallied and attempted to close in on the KTM rider. But the gap would remain at around half a second for several laps, Fenati always able to respond when Navarro closed in.Further down the order a number of battles continued to roar, Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) muscling his way inside the top ten. Oettl’s lonely Sunday ride came to an end with seven laps to go as he found himself followed by Quartararo and Binder, the French rider slipping through at Turn 1 with ease. The double CEV Champion wouldn’t go unchallenged as Oettl continued to look up his inside at every chance he got.Another mistake at Turn 1 on lap 12 from Navarro would cement Fenati’s lead, the Italian opening a gap of over two seconds. The gap would continue to grow and the top two steps of the podium look set it stone. Quartararo continued to circulate in third, Oettl now half a second behind the French rider with five laps to go.Having started from 30th, Qatar GP winner Niccolo Antonelli saw able to produce an incredible ride to get inside the top ten and battle with fellow Italian Enea Bastianini, who had started on the front row. Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) would join the Italian pair for a spirited battle.Disaster would strike with three laps to go for Fabio Quartararo, his KTM encountering a problem that saw him rapidly lose positions. This promoted Oettl back onto the podium and lifted Binder to fourth. Drama would continue as on the penultimate lap Antonelli slid off at Turn 5. Knowing a potential podium was now on the cards, Binder put it all on the line on the final lap to get past Oettl. The South African was clearly having front-end issues but continued to push ahead. A perfect slipstream allowed Binder to grab third position down the back straight, able to hold off the German to the line.Jorge NavarroFenati took his first race win since the French GP in 2015 as both Navarro and Binder returned to the podium. Binder leads the championship by three points, Navarro sits second with 49 points. Thanks to his win, Fenati moves to third with 38 points.Phillip Oettl and Andrea Locatelli (Leopard Racing) would seal the top five in the race. Locatelli taking his second top five finish in as many races.Enea Bastianini, Aron Canet, Livio Loi (RW Racing GP BV), Jules Danilo (Ongetta-Rivacold) and Nicolo Bulega wrapped up the top ten. Quartararo would eventually end the race in 13th place.Hiroki Ono (Honda Team Asia) was given a ride through penalty for irresponsible riding and causing Adam Norrodin (Drive M7 SIC Racing Team) to crash the first corner on the second lap. Joan Mir (Leopard Racing) and Darryn Binder (Platinum Bay Real Estate) came together at Turn 1 after several laps, both able to remount before retiring.
