Brad Binder play it perfectly to win the 20 lap Moto3™ race in Mugello.
Sunday at the Gran Premio d’Italia TIM began with the always-thrilling Moto3™ World Championship race. The sun blazed overhead, the ground temperature edging above 34°C as the 33 rider strong field lined up on the grid. Italians featured heavily in the top ten, Romano Fenati (SKY Racing Team VR46) beginning his home race from pole position.
Fenati shot off the line and held his advantage into Turn 1, Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) moving up to third with Andrea Migno (SKY Racing Team VR46) splitting the two front-runners. The straight was home to thrilling action as the leading group went five abreast into San Donato, riders easily going from first to fifth in just a few meters. Each lap saw more and more riders join the battle, the slipstream closing the pack up with each run down the 1.141km long straight as the top 20 were all within touching distance.
Replacement rider Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Schedl GP Racing) had an incredible start to the race, finding himself comfortably inside the top ten and able to battle with the World Championship regulars. Dalla Porta wasn’t the only new name out at the front, rookie Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini Racing Moto3) taking the lead on several occasions in front of his home crowd.
Disaster struck on lap ten for pole setter Roman Fenati as his bike expired while he tried to move into first, the Italian rolling off the track and withdrawing from the race. Fenati’s heartbreak presented a big opportunity for the likes of Fabio Quartararo (Leopard Racing) who made his way up into the frontrunners having started 18th, the Frenchman able to lead at several points.
The championship hopefuls continued to encounter difficulties, Jorge Navarro (Estrella Galicia 0,0) coming off at Turn 15 on lap 12 after contact with another rider. This left Binder fighting for victory with his two closest rivals out of the race, the South African guaranteed to leave Mugello with the championship lead.
Binder made his move on the final lap and opened up a quarter of second gap, just enough to break the slipstream. For the third straight race the South African takes to the top step of the podium, extending his championship lead once again. 49 points, almost two race victories, separate Binder in first from Navarro in second.
Di Giannantonio scored his first points of the year with a brilliant second place at home, Francesco Bagnaia (Aspar Mahindra Team Moto3) making it two Italians on the podium. Before Mugello, Di Giannantonio’s best result was 17th.
Try as they might, Niccolo Antonelli (Ongetta-Rivacold) and Fabio Quartararo (Leopard Racing) were unable to pass in the slipstream, settling for fourth and fifth respectively.
Darryn Binder (Platinum Bay Real Estate) was the first faller of the race, coming off at Turn 8 but able to walk away from the accident free of injury. Andrea Locatelli (Leopard Racing) fell at Turn 2 on the 14th lap, a sad end to his home weekend.
Khairul Idham Pawi (Honda Team Asia) crashed out of a potential top five on the final lap, followed soon after by Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0).
Fabio Spiranelli (CIP-Unicom Starker) and Alexis Masbou (Peugeot MC Saxoprint) also failed to finish.
Results:
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 158.0 | 39’49.382 |
| 2 | 20 | 4 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | ITA | Gresini Racing Moto3 | Honda | 158.0 | +0.038 |
| 3 | 16 | 21 | Francesco BAGNAIA | ITA | ASPAR Mahindra Team Moto3 | Mahindra | 158.0 | +0.069 |
| 4 | 13 | 23 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | ITA | Ongetta-Rivacold | Honda | 158.0 | +0.075 |
| 5 | 11 | 20 | Fabio QUARTARARO | FRA | Leopard Racing | KTM | 158.0 | +0.077 |
| 6 | 10 | 76 | Hiroki ONO | JPN | Honda Team Asia | Honda | 157.9 | +1.037 |
| 7 | 9 | 36 | Joan MIR | SPA | Leopard Racing | KTM | 157.9 | +1.532 |
| 8 | 8 | 8 | Nicolo BULEGA | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM | 157.9 | +1.538 |
| 9 | 7 | 58 | Juanfran GUEVARA | SPA | RBA Racing Team | KTM | 157.9 | +1.567 |
| 10 | 6 | 16 | Andrea MIGNO | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM | 157.9 | +1.762 |
| 11 | 5 | 95 | Jules DANILO | FRA | Ongetta-Rivacold | Honda | 157.9 | +1.791 |
| 12 | 4 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | ITA | Gresini Racing Moto3 | Honda | 157.9 | +1.792 |
| 13 | 3 | 19 | Gabriel RODRIGO | ARG | RBA Racing Team | KTM | 157.9 | +1.933 |
| 14 | 2 | 88 | Jorge MARTIN | SPA | ASPAR Mahindra Team Moto3 | Mahindra | 157.9 | +2.011 |
| 15 | 1 | 48 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | ITA | Schedl GP Racing | KTM | 157.9 | +2.041 |
| 16 | 11 | Livio LOI | BEL | RW Racing GP BV | Honda | 157.8 | +2.391 | |
| 17 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | CZE | Drive M7 SIC Racing Team | Honda | 157.8 | +2.434 | |
| 18 | 64 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | NED | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 157.8 | +2.577 | |
| 19 | 24 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | JPN | CIP-Unicom Starker | Mahindra | 157.8 | +2.775 | |
| 20 | 98 | Karel HANIKA | CZE | Platinum Bay Real Estate | Mahindra | 157.7 | +4.289 | |
| 21 | 6 | Maria HERRERA | SPA | MH6 Team | KTM | 157.7 | +4.916 | |
| 22 | 7 | Adam NORRODIN | MAL | Drive M7 SIC Racing Team | Honda | 155.7 | +34.654 | |
| 23 | 17 | John MCPHEE | GBR | Peugeot MC Saxoprint | Peugeot | 155.7 | +34.692 | |
| 24 | 43 | Stefano VALTULINI | ITA | 3570 Team Italia | Mahindra | 155.7 | +34.739 | |
| 25 | 77 | Lorenzo PETRARCA | ITA | 3570 Team Italia | Mahindra | 155.2 | +42.628 | |
| Not Classified | ||||||||
| 44 | Aron CANET | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda | 157.9 | 1 Lap | ||
| 89 | Khairul Idham PAWI | MAL | Honda Team Asia | Honda | 157.9 | 1 Lap | ||
| 3 | Fabio SPIRANELLI | ITA | CIP-Unicom Starker | Mahindra | 155.7 | 1 Lap | ||
| 55 | Andrea LOCATELLI | ITA | Leopard Racing | KTM | 156.6 | 7 Laps | ||
| 9 | Jorge NAVARRO | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda | 157.9 | 9 Laps | ||
| 5 | Romano FENATI | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM | 157.8 | 11 Laps | ||
| 40 | Darryn BINDER | RSA | Platinum Bay Real Estate | Mahindra | 157.2 | 13 Laps | ||
| 10 | Alexis MASBOU | FRA | Peugeot MC Saxoprint | Peugeot | 153.2 | 17 Laps | ||
Points Standing:
| Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brad BINDER | KTM | RSA | 127 |
| 2 | Jorge NAVARRO | Honda | SPA | 78 |
| 3 | Romano FENATI | KTM | ITA | 67 |
| 4 | Nicolo BULEGA | KTM | ITA | 55 |
| 5 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Mahindra | ITA | 54 |
| 6 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | Honda | ITA | 52 |
| 7 | Jakub KORNFEIL | Honda | CZE | 36 |
| 8 | Joan MIR | KTM | SPA | 34 |
| 9 | Enea BASTIANINI | Honda | ITA | 33 |
| 10 | Andrea LOCATELLI | KTM | ITA | 30 |
| 11 | Fabio QUARTARARO | KTM | FRA | 30 |
| 12 | Khairul Idham PAWI | Honda | MAL | 29 |
| 13 | Philipp OETTL | KTM | GER | 27 |
| 14 | Jules DANILO | Honda | FRA | 24 |
| 15 | Aron CANET | Honda | SPA | 23 |
| 16 | Juanfran GUEVARA | KTM | SPA | 22 |
| 17 | Andrea MIGNO | KTM | ITA | 21 |
| 18 | Livio LOI | Honda | BEL | 21 |
| 19 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Honda | ITA | 20 |
| 20 | Hiroki ONO | Honda | JPN | 20 |
| 21 | Jorge MARTIN | Mahindra | SPA | 10 |
| 22 | John MCPHEE | Peugeot | GBR | 9 |
| 23 | Gabriel RODRIGO | KTM | ARG | 6 |
| 24 | Adam NORRODIN | Honda | MAL | 5 |
| 25 | Bo BENDSNEYDER | KTM | NED | 2 |
| 26 | Maria HERRERA | KTM | SPA | 2 |
| 27 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | Mahindra | JPN | 2 |
| 28 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | KTM | ITA | 1 |
| 29 | Alexis MASBOU | Peugeot | FRA | |
| 30 | Albert ARENAS | Mahindra | SPA | |
| 31 | Karel HANIKA | Mahindra | CZE | |
| 32 | Davide PIZZOLI | KTM | ITA | |
| 33 | Stefano VALTULINI | Mahindra | ITA | |
| 34 | Enzo BOULOM | KTM | FRA | |
| 35 | Fabio SPIRANELLI | Mahindra | ITA | |
| 36 | Darryn BINDER | Mahindra | RSA | |
| 37 | Lorenzo PETRARCA | Mahindra | ITA |
Photo & Text Credit: Motogp.com
