Joan Mir stretched his Moto3 championship lead to 45 points with a last lap victory in the Catalunya Grand Prix. The Spaniard snatched the lead from Jorge Martin four corners from the finish to deny the Gresini rider his first Grand Prix win with Romano Fenati pushing him down to third.
Martin had looked the overwhelming pre-race favourite having taken his fifth pole position from seven races but Moto3 produced another pack-fight at the front, ensuring he would have to overcome seven close challengers to take his first victory. The drag race to turn one would often see Martin’s lead come under threat but heading into the last lap, he still had his nose in front.
Mir started the final lap back in fourth but the power of the slipstream enabled him to pass Enea Bastianini into turn one. Fenati was busy lining up Martin on the approach to turn ten but Mir seized the opportunity to catch the Italian napping, pinching second, and as the leading group entered the final chicane complex, Joan forced his way up the inside of Martin to secure a sensational victory.
Fenati took advantage of Mir’s opportunism to deprive Martin of second while Bastianini finished fourth, narrowly holding off Estrella Galicia team-mate Aron Canet. Marcos Ramirez flew the KTM flag once again in sixth ahead of Fabio Di Giannantonio while Andrea Migno charged through from twentieth on the grid to beat Sky VR46 team-mate Nicolo Bulega to eighth.
Moto3 Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya – Race Result
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