Luis Salom struck a significant blow in the race for the 2013 Moto3 title with victory in the British Grand Prix. The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider won another Spanish-dominated affair ahead of Alex Rins and Alex Marquez while his chief title rival Maverick Vinales was edged out of the podium places into fourth, losing crucial ground to his compatriot.
The long straights of Silverstone were providing plenty of entertainment as the leading quartet jockeyed for position, each taking a turn to lead at one point. Polesitter Maverick Vinales looked the most comfortable early on but his attempts to break away proved fruitless as the trio behind reeled him straight back in. His time in the lead was ended five laps from home as Salom began to take charge, passing all three of his competitors in one fell swoop at Brooklands.
Rins wasn’t having any of that and used the slipstream to breeze past into Stowe but a couple of laps later, the Estrella Galicia rider would find just how powerful the two would be as Salom returned the favour, moving back into the lead. The last lap brought back unwanted memories for Rins as his teammate came at him, wiping away any chances he had of challenging Salom. Marquez had eyes on a first win himself and snatched second at Stowe but roles were quickly reversed and Rins would go on to claim second, finishing right on the rear wheel of Salom. Vinales’ lack of pace in the closing stages was a surprise as he came home fourth, just eight tenths off the lead but seemingly unable to make any impression on the trio ahead of him.
Some twenty seconds further back, Miguel Oliveira gave Mahindra another excellent result in fifth, holding off Jonas Folger, Jack Miller and Alexis Masbou while Jakub Kornfeil worked his way to the front of a nine-rider freight train to grab ninth spot, edging out the second Mahindra of Efren Vazquez. This group also involved John McPhee and the Scottish teenager was rewarded for his efforts with two points in fourteenth place.
Wildcard entrants Wayne Ryan and Kyle Ryde each made it to the end of their first Grand Prix but the pair had contrasting afternoons. While Ryde stayed out of trouble to finish 27th, Ryan was caught up in a first lap incident with the two CIP TSR riders, Juanfran Guevara and Alan Techer, and the subsequent hold-up saw him finish a lap down in 30th.
