Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) produced a perfect ride to secure his first Grand Prix win at the Monster Energy Grand Prix České republiky in a race that saw a lead battle of 22 riders at one point, with the Italian beating Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) to the line as the Spaniard finished second, with pole man and home hero Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PrustelGP) claiming a fantastic podium in third.
It was the Czech rider who got a great launch from pole position to grab the holeshot with John McPhee (CIP – Green Power) – who suffered a lap 10 crash at the final corner – and Marcos Ramirez (Bester Capital Dubai) slotting in behind the number 84. Kornfeil was then on a mission, opening up a 0.8 second lead by the end of the first lap, and held that lead until the gaggle of chasing riders reeled him in by the end of lap three.
From here on in, the lightweight class race was nothing short of spectacular as a leading group of 22 formed, with P1 swapping and changing lap-by-lap. ‘Diggia’ made his way forward and the eventual race winner was in and around the top three for the majority of the second half of the race, with Turn 7 a particular strong overtaking point for the Italian. Heading into the last lap, Kornfeil’s dream home victory was in sight, but it was Di Giannantonio and Canet who managed to get through and create a small gap – the Del Conca Gresini rider holding firm to take the checkered flag.
After languishing down outside the top ten for much of the race, Enea Bastianini (Leopard Racing) recovered in the final laps to earn an important P4, holding off Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull Rider) on the final lap as the Argentine rounded out the top five. At one point it looked like Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PrustelGP) wouldn’t be able to take advantage of Jorge Martin’s (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) absence, but a P6 finish from P14 on the grid means he re-takes the Championship lead heading to Austria – three points the gap.
Ramirez ended up seventh after a fantastic race in the lead group, with Philipp Oettl (Sudmetal Schedl GP Racing) eventually coming home P8 after leading the race. Albert Arenas (Angel Nieto Team) and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) rounded out the top ten in P9 and P10 respectively.
11th was Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) on board his Honda, with Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46) crossing the line 12th after he briefly led the race. Kazuki Masaki (RBA BOE Skull Rider) came home 13th, Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) was 14th and Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) was the final point scorer in P15 – 2.770 seconds splitting the top 15 in the fifth closest Moto3™ race in history.
Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) suffered a nasty looking crash on the exit of Turn 4 on lap 3 – thankfully rider ok.
Another absolute classic lightweight race ends in jubilation for ‘Diggia’ and Kornfeil at Brno, as the Championship lead changes hands again as we head to Austria in a week’s time.
MONSTER ENERGY GRAND PRIX ČESKÉ REPUBLIKY
Moto3 Race Classification 2018.
Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 | 21 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | ITA | Del Conca Gresini Moto3 | Honda | 149.0 | 39’09.124 |
2 | 20 | 44 | Aron CANET | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda | 149.0 | +0.112 |
3 | 16 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | CZE | Redox PruestelGP | KTM | 149.0 | +0.339 |
4 | 13 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | ITA | Leopard Racing | Honda | 149.0 | +0.560 |
5 | 11 | 19 | Gabriel RODRIGO | ARG | RBA BOE Skull Rider | KTM | 148.9 | +0.771 |
6 | 10 | 12 | Marco BEZZECCHI | ITA | Redox PruestelGP | KTM | 148.9 | +0.896 |
7 | 9 | 42 | Marcos RAMIREZ | SPA | Bester Capital Dubai | KTM | 148.9 | +1.030 |
8 | 8 | 65 | Philipp OETTL | GER | Sudmetal Schedl GP Racing | KTM | 148.9 | +1.097 |
9 | 7 | 75 | Albert ARENAS | SPA | Angel Nieto Team Moto3 | KTM | 148.9 | +2.034 |
10 | 6 | 48 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | ITA | Leopard Racing | Honda | 148.9 | +2.056 |
11 | 5 | 23 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | ITA | SIC58 Squadra Corse | Honda | 148.9 | +2.093 |
12 | 4 | 10 | Dennis FOGGIA | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM | 148.8 | +2.359 |
13 | 3 | 22 | Kazuki MASAKI | JPN | RBA BOE Skull Rider | KTM | 148.8 | +2.517 |
14 | 2 | 24 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | JPN | SIC58 Squadra Corse | Honda | 148.8 | +2.616 |
15 | 1 | 14 | Tony ARBOLINO | ITA | Marinelli Snipers Team | Honda | 148.8 | +2.770 |
16 | 41 | Nakarin ATIRATPHUVAPAT | THA | Honda Team Asia | Honda | 148.8 | +3.674 | |
17 | 5 | Jaume MASIA | SPA | Bester Capital Dubai | KTM | 148.7 | +4.618 | |
18 | 72 | Alonso LOPEZ | SPA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda | 148.7 | +4.870 | |
19 | 8 | Nicolo BULEGA | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | KTM | 148.7 | +4.942 | |
20 | 16 | Andrea MIGNO | ITA | Angel Nieto Team Moto3 | KTM | 148.7 | +4.954 | |
21 | 77 | Vicente PEREZ | SPA | Reale Avintia Academy 77 | KTM | 148.2 | +12.923 | |
22 | 71 | Ayumu SASAKI | JPN | Petronas Sprinta Racing | Honda | 148.2 | +12.942 | |
23 | 40 | Darryn BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 148.2 | +12.956 | |
24 | 15 | Filip SALAC | CZE | Cuna de Campeones Czech Talent | KTM | 146.4 | +41.511 | |
Not Classified | ||||||||
7 | Adam NORRODIN | MAL | Petronas Sprinta Racing | Honda | 148.8 | 1 Lap | ||
81 | Stefano NEPA | ITA | CIP – Green Power | KTM | 146.0 | 4 Laps | ||
17 | John MCPHEE | GBR | CIP – Green Power | KTM | 148.9 | 9 Laps | ||
27 | Kaito TOBA | JPN | Honda Team Asia | Honda | 145.1 | 16 Laps |
Moto3 World Standing 2018.
Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Marco BEZZECCHI | KTM | ITA | 133 |
2 | Jorge MARTIN | Honda | SPA | 130 |
3 | Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO | Honda | ITA | 116 |
4 | Aron CANET | Honda | SPA | 112 |
5 | Enea BASTIANINI | Honda | ITA | 97 |
6 | Jakub KORNFEIL | KTM | CZE | 77 |
7 | Gabriel RODRIGO | KTM | ARG | 76 |
8 | Marcos RAMIREZ | KTM | SPA | 66 |
9 | Andrea MIGNO | KTM | ITA | 60 |
10 | Philipp OETTL | KTM | GER | 52 |
11 | Lorenzo DALLA PORTA | Honda | ITA | 52 |
12 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | Honda | ITA | 50 |
13 | Jaume MASIA | KTM | SPA | 44 |
14 | Tatsuki SUZUKI | Honda | JPN | 40 |
15 | John MCPHEE | KTM | GBR | 39 |
16 | Albert ARENAS | KTM | SPA | 37 |
17 | Alonso LOPEZ | Honda | SPA | 31 |
18 | Kaito TOBA | Honda | JPN | 26 |
19 | Tony ARBOLINO | Honda | ITA | 25 |
20 | Adam NORRODIN | Honda | MAL | 24 |
21 | Ayumu SASAKI | Honda | JPN | 23 |
22 | Darryn BINDER | KTM | RSA | 20 |
23 | Dennis FOGGIA | KTM | ITA | 17 |
24 | Raul FERNANDEZ | KTM | SPA | 13 |
25 | Makar YURCHENKO | KTM | KAZ | 9 |
26 | Livio LOI | KTM | BEL | 8 |
27 | Nicolo BULEGA | KTM | ITA | 7 |
28 | Kazuki MASAKI | KTM | JPN | 7 |
29 | Manuel PAGLIANI | Honda | ITA | 6 |
30 | Nakarin ATIRATPHUVAPAT | Honda | THA | 2 |
31 | Ai OGURA | Honda | JPN | 1 |
32 | Luca GRÜNWALD | KTM | GER | |
33 | Stefano NEPA | KTM | ITA | |
34 | Vicente PEREZ | KTM | SPA | |
35 | Filip SALAC | KTM | CZE | |
36 | Ryan VAN DE LAGEMAAT | KTM | NED |
Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com