Cortese Beats Zarco To Maiden Win At Brno

Sandro Cortese prevailed in a thrilling head-to-head battle with Johann Zarco to take his first ever Grand Prix victory, denying the Frenchman his maiden win in the process. Zarco still emerged a winner though, with Nicolas Terol's retirement blowing the title race wide open.

All looked to be well for the Spaniard who made a lightning getaway from pole position and after some early place-swapping with Zarco, settled into a lead with the Derbi and Cortese's Aprilia locked onto his rear wheel.

Sadly for British supporters though, Danny Kent's impressive weekend ended early. The 17 year old started from a career high of sixth after Luis Salom's warm-up crash forced him to pull out, but the Red Bull Ajo Aprilia grinded to a halt little over a lap into the race.

Disaster struck for the leader on lap nine as Terol began to slow down exiting turn one, seemingly unable to find a gear. With over five kilometres to travel before reaching the pitlane, Terol was forced to park his Aprilia, virtually guaranteeing a first-time winner.

It also meant that the five riders dicing for fourth all had a podium finish in their sights. Hector Faubel led the group ahead of the two Blusens Aprilias of Sergio Gadea and Maverick Vinales who had scythed through the field following poor grid slots. Alberto Moncayo and Miguel Oliveira were hot on their heels but Efren Vazquez took himself out of contention with a crash on lap 14.

The two leaders continued to ride nose-to-tail until the start of the penultimate lap when Cortese slipped up the inside of Zarco into turn one. The Frenchman returned the compliment on the final tour but his near-endless search for a first win will go on after Cortese elbowed his way through at the final esses.

The fight for the final podium position was equally explosive Vinales and Gadea slugged it out. The two Blusens teammates dropped back in the closing stages though allowing Moncayo to the front of the group. Faubel made a desperate late attempt on the run to the finish line but the younger Spaniard held on to claim his first ever Grand Prix podium.

Gadea and Vinales were forced to settle for fifth and sixth but with Terol drawing a blank, the 16 year old at least closed in on the championship leader. Oliveira should have finished right on his tail but came unstuck in the mad scramble through the final bend, dropping to 23^rd.

This promoted home favourite Jakub Kornfeil to seventh, equalling his best result of the year, while Simone Grotzkyj finished higher in a Grand Prix than ever before in eighth. Malaysian rider Zulfahmi Khairuddin also had plenty to celebrate with ninth while Jasper Iwema completed the top ten.

Despite Danny Kent's frustration, British supporters had plenty to smile about as Danny Webb came from 22^nd to 12^th with Harry Stafford right on his tail, finally scoring his first points in Grand Prix racing. Taylor Mackenzie made it to the finish in 21^st.

Race Result (19 Laps):

Lap Leaders (19 Laps):

Terol (1, 3, 5-8), Zarco (2, 4, 9-17), Cortese (18-19)

Riders Championship (After Round 10: Czech Republic)