Does this mean that the Moto3 Grand Prix World Championship battle will go to the wire? Or will it be a war of attrition that will see any mistake punished? I hope it is the former as both of the contenders don’t deserve to lose the title due to a cruel twist of fate
It was a stunning battle from the Moto3 Czech Grand Prix at Brno, with riders that had started at the back of the Grid fighting at the front. It was a real thriller that had Grand Prix racing fans on the edge of their seats. it consisted of eighteen laps of slipstreaming action with the front pack in a swarm as no rider wanted to give any quarter.
The drama unfolded before the starting lights even went out with Niccolo Antonelli having to start from the pits with what looked like a stalled bike on the start of the warm-up lap. Following the mornings warm-up session which saw thirty riders separated by 1.4 seconds on a 2:10 second lap, it looked like a tall order for the SIC58 Squadra Corse pilot.
Starting Collision
There was a fourth career pole for Tony Arbolino who got a fantastic start shot forward as the lights went out for round ten of the Czech Grand Prix but second-place John McPhee seemed to fall through the standings due to a poor start, which we now know was a stuck pit limiter.
The Petronas Sprinta Racing rider stuck his hand up but the swarm behind him travelling at approximately 120Km/h vs 60km/h was always going to end badly, with Asia Talent Team Wild Card Yuki Kunii taking the brunt of the impact as he collided with the Brit who also injured his ankle.
Teamwork makes the dream work
Raul Fernadez led the Swarm of riders through the 3.35 mile track, Amazingly Romano Fenati gained nine places from the start, this allowed VNE Snipers team-mates Romano Fenati and Tony Arbolino to work together using the slipstream to try and overtake a rapid Raul Fernandez, the Sama Qatar Angel Nieto rider was able to keep the lead by beating them on the brakes into the corners. The battle came at a price with Alonso Lopez capitalising on the ongoing battle who himself had used the slipstream to gain on his tenth place Grid position
Crash City
Czech Rider Filip Salac of Redox PruestelGP had a disaster of a race after falling at Turn one, after only a few laps into his home event, which is a shame after having a decent weekend up to then.
Celestino Vietti Slid off at Turn nine and quite remarkably but unsurprisingly he jumped right back on the bike to carry on, and finished the race. SIC58 Squadra Corse rider Tatsuki Suzuki was not so lucky as his battle for fifth ended his race weekend as an ambitious attempt to undertake Alonso Lopez meant too much throttle on the exit at turn thirteen led to a highside.
Tom Booth-Amos cut a very frustrated figure as he crashed after a pretty miserable weekend, he was visibly unhappy definitely a weekend to put behind him. Albert Arenas was probably the most unfortunate of the crashers as he had crashed at turn seven and then after remounting he crashed at turn ten, which ended his race weekend.
Estrella Galicia team-mates Alonso Lopez and Sergio Garcia took each other out in a racing incident with four laps to go, the Turn seven collision led to a push between team-mates, which I’m sure will not go down too well with the Bosses at the Moto3 outfit.
Last lap battle
The Two VNE Snipers riders were now battling each other with Romano Fenati now leading the race but his constant battle with stablemate Tony Arbolino had taken its toll on the pair and the field was very close together. This allowed Lorenzo Dalla Porta to make up seventeen places to take the lead. Aron Canet was biding his time in fourth for what was to become the showpiece of the event.
During the battle at the front Niccolo Antonelli clearly had the pace as he was setting the fastest laps continuous which meant he shot up through the now depleted thirty man field to a respectable fifth place from a Pit Lane start, a fantastic end to the weekend for the Italian rider.
The final lap tussle between Canet and Dalla porta was a fitting end to an exciting race that had action from start to finish. It was Canet who came out victorious and bested the Leopard Racing team man who finished second despite starting seventeenth on the grid due to a gearshift problem in Q2 on Saturday.
