Moto3™: Michelin® Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix: Albert Arenas (Angel Nieto Team) claims a sensational second victory of the season

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In an unbelievable Moto3™ race at the Michelin® Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix it was Albert Arenas (Angel Nieto Team) who emerged as the victor to beat Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) and stand-in SKY Racing Team VR46 rider Celestino Vietti, but drama hit title contender Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PruestelGP) as the Moto3™ Championship takes another twist.

It was Championship leader Jorge Martin (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) who got the initial launch from pole but on the run into Turn 1 it was Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull rider) who grabbed the holeshot with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) and Ayumu Sasaki (Petronas Sprinta Racing) tucking in behind, before Martin cut back through to the lead at Turn 4. This though was just the start of a mesmerising Moto3™ encounter which saw 14 different riders lead at some point.

Bezzecchi had made a steady start from P15 on the grid but by lap 8, the Italian had taken the lead of the race. However, no one could stay out front with both Martin and Bezzecchi having to scrap it out in the lower ends of the top ten and on lap 11, this proved costly for the KTM rider. Disaster struck for Bezzecchi as Rodrigo entered the downhill braking zone of Turn 10 too hot. The Argentine, trying to avoid Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0), squeezed between the latter and Bezzecchi and lost the front, forcing Bezzecchi onto the grass and with nowhere to go, the title contender went down.

This left Martin with a magnificent chance to take full advantage and sure enough, the Spaniard was at the front but, yet again, despite threatening to make a break, he couldn’t steer clear of the Island’s slipstream and by the last lap there was still 15 riders in with a chance of winning. Turn 2 saw Martin tangle with Philipp Oettl (Sudmetal Schedl GP Racing), which meant Arenas took the baton at the front.

Then, Martin ran slightly wide at Turn 4 while running third but his biggest moment came at Turn 10 on the last lap. The Spaniard tagged the rear wheel of second place Sasaki, which allowed teammate Di Giannantonio to cut through on the inside. This ultimately cost Martin the podium and despite closing up with the three-rider slipstream on the run to the chequered flag, Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) snatched fourth by 0.018 – a fantastic rider from 24th on the grid for the Japanese rider.

A breathtaking race ended with Arenas holding onto the lead coming out of the final corner, with ‘Diggia’, Vietti, Suzuki and Martin completing the top five. Canet, led in the latter stages of the race, eventually came home sixth, with Adam Norrodin (Petronas Sprinta Racing) getting his best result since Argentina. Enea Bastianini (Leopard Racing) was eighth on board his Honda, with Jakub Kornfeil (Redox Pruestel) and Sasaki completing the top ten that was covered by 0.406 seconds on the line – astonishingly close racing.

Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) was 11th, a great rider from the Spanish youngster, with Binder having to settle for P12 after a mistake at Turn 4 with three laps to go. Andrea Migno (Angel Nieto Team), John McPhee (CIP – Green Power) and Oettl round out the point scoring positions – the latter being forced out by Martin after starting the second lap in P2. The gap between the point scorers? 2.1 seconds, the fourth closest top 15 in lightweight class history.

There was a huge crash for Marcos Ramirez (Bester Capital Dubai) at Stoner Corner, which left teammate Jauma Masia with nowhere to go. Thankfully, both riders were relatively ok as they headed for the medical centre, with Masia injuring his right ankle. Turn 4 saw Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) and Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46) both went down with two to go, as Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) crashed out of the lead in the latter stages at Turn 2.

Caught your breath back yet? We certainly haven’t. An outrageous start to proceedings sees the Moto3™ title race take another unexpected turn as Martin now leads Bezzecchi by 12 points, with Diggia’s P2 getting him right back in the title mix – 20 points splitting the top three.

MICHELIN® AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

Moto3 Race Classification 2018.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	75	Albert ARENAS	SPA	Angel Nieto Team Moto3	KTM	162.3	37’48.073
2	20	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Del Conca Gresini Moto3	Honda	162.3	+0.052
3	16	31	Celestino VIETTI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	KTM	162.3	+0.059
4	13	24	Tatsuki SUZUKI	JPN	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	162.3	+0.081
5	11	88	Jorge MARTIN	SPA	Del Conca Gresini Moto3	Honda	162.3	+0.099
6	10	44	Aron CANET	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0	Honda	162.3	+0.154
7	9	7	Adam NORRODIN	MAL	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda	162.3	+0.188
8	8	33	Enea BASTIANINI	ITA	Leopard Racing	Honda	162.3	+0.235
9	7	84	Jakub KORNFEIL	CZE	Redox PruestelGP	KTM	162.3	+0.328
10	6	71	Ayumu SASAKI	JPN	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Honda	162.3	+0.406
11	5	72	Alonso LOPEZ	SPA	Estrella Galicia 0,0	Honda	162.3	+0.575
12	4	40	Darryn BINDER	RSA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	162.3	+0.889
13	3	16	Andrea MIGNO	ITA	Angel Nieto Team Moto3	KTM	162.3	+0.987
14	2	17	John MCPHEE	GBR	CIP – Green Power	KTM	162.3	+0.989
15	1	65	Philipp OETTL	GER	Sudmetal Schedl GP Racing	KTM	162.2	+2.148
16		55	Yari MONTELLA	ITA	SIC58 Squadra Corse	Honda	159.9	+34.700
17		81	Stefano NEPA	ITA	CIP – Green Power	KTM	159.9	+34.969
18		41	Nakarin ATIRATPHUVAPAT	THA	Honda Team Asia	Honda	159.6	+39.367
19		27	Kaito TOBA	JPN	Honda Team Asia	Honda	159.0	+48.054
20		77	Vicente PEREZ	SPA	Reale Avintia Academy 77	KTM	158.9	+48.970
Not Classified
		14	Tony ARBOLINO	ITA	Marinelli Snipers Team	Honda	162.5	2 Laps
		10	Dennis FOGGIA	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	KTM	162.5	2 Laps
		42	Marcos RAMIREZ	SPA	Bester Capital Dubai	KTM	162.5	10 Laps
		5	Jaume MASIA	SPA	Bester Capital Dubai	KTM	162.5	10 Laps
		48	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	Leopard Racing	Honda	162.6	11 Laps
		12	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	Redox PruestelGP	KTM	162.6	13 Laps
		19	Gabriel RODRIGO	ARG	RBA BOE Skull Rider	KTM	162.5	13 Laps

Moto3 World Standing 2018.

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Jorge MARTIN	Honda	SPA	215
2	Marco BEZZECCHI	KTM	ITA	203
3	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	Honda	ITA	195
4	Enea BASTIANINI	Honda	ITA	150
5	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	Honda	ITA	131
6	Aron CANET	Honda	SPA	128
7	Gabriel RODRIGO	KTM	ARG	116
8	Jakub KORNFEIL	KTM	CZE	115
9	Albert ARENAS	KTM	SPA	94
10	Marcos RAMIREZ	KTM	SPA	90
11	Andrea MIGNO	KTM	ITA	82
12	Jaume MASIA	KTM	SPA	66
13	Tatsuki SUZUKI	Honda	JPN	64
14	John MCPHEE	KTM	GBR	62
15	Philipp OETTL	KTM	GER	58
16	Niccolò ANTONELLI	Honda	ITA	56
17	Dennis FOGGIA	KTM	ITA	55
18	Tony ARBOLINO	Honda	ITA	49
19	Darryn BINDER	KTM	RSA	48
20	Adam NORRODIN	Honda	MAL	46
21	Ayumu SASAKI	Honda	JPN	45
22	Alonso LOPEZ	Honda	SPA	36
23	Kaito TOBA	Honda	JPN	33
24	Celestino VIETTI	KTM	ITA	18
25	Nicolo BULEGA	KTM	ITA	18
26	Vicente PEREZ	KTM	SPA	13
27	Raul FERNANDEZ	KTM	SPA	13
28	Makar YURCHENKO	KTM	KAZ	9
29	Livio LOI	KTM	BEL	8
30	Kazuki MASAKI	KTM	JPN	8
31	Somkiat CHANTRA	Honda	THA	7
32	Manuel PAGLIANI	Honda	ITA	6
33	Nakarin ATIRATPHUVAPAT	Honda	THA	2
34	Ai OGURA	Honda	JPN	1
35	Yari MONTELLA	Honda	ITA
36	Apiwath WONGTHANANON	KTM	THA
37	Stefano NEPA	KTM	ITA
38	Jeremy ALCOBA	Honda	SPA
39	Kevin ZANNONI	TM RACING	ITA
40	Luca GRÜNWALD	KTM	GER
41	Shizuka OKAZAKI	Honda	JPN
42	Yuto FUKUSHIMA	Honda	JPN
43	Filip SALAC	KTM	CZE
44	Ryan VAN DE LAGEMAAT	KTM	NED
45	Maximilian KOFLER	KTM	AUT

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of MotoGP.com

Moto3™: Michelin® Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix: Albert Arenas (Angel Nieto Team) claims a sensational second victory of the season

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MICHELIN® AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

Moto3 World Standing 2018.

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