Submitted by Mike Lewis on
Results Below:
Romano Fenati won his second career Grand Prix Sunday after he forced his bike to the inside of Jack Miller's KTM and bumped the championship leader wide on the second to last corner of the Moto3 race in Argentina. A trailing Alex Marquez shot through the new opening to take second and an unhappy Miller settled for third place at the Termas de Rio Hondo Circuit.
The bump, deemed legal by race dirrection following the contest, ended what had been a gripping series of final laps with multiple lead changes. Livio Loi, who celebrated his 17th birthday on Sunday, took advantage of the fight among the leaders to grab a surprising fourth, his best-ever finish. Alex Rins, running with the leaders before a late-race mistake, ended his day in fifth and Efren Vazquez grabbed sixth.
Isaac Viñales finished seventh, nearly nine seconds back folowed by Niklas Ajo another six seconds later. Danny Kent finished ninth and off the track after a final corner crash sent him into the gravel trap but with enough momentum to cross the line. Enea Bastianini completed the top 10.
Fenati's win is the first for Valetino Rossi's Sky Racing Team VR46. Six riders crashed out. Oddly, the organizers played the French national anthem after Italian Fenati's win. They later played the Italian anthem.
Result:
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Bike | Time / Diff. |
| 1 | 5 | Romano FENATI | KTM | 38'34.451 |
| 2 | 12 | Alex MARQUEZ | Honda | 0.099 |
| 3 | 8 | Jack MILLER | KTM | 0.54 |
| 4 | 11 | Livio LOI | Kalex KTM | 0.624 |
| 5 | 42 | Alex RINS | Honda | 5.53 |
| 6 | 7 | Efren VAZQUEZ | Honda | 5.653 |
| 7 | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | KTM | 8.965 |
| 8 | 31 | Niklas AJO | Husqvarna | 14.985 |
| 9 | 52 | Danny KENT | Husqvarna | 15.043 |
| 10 | 33 | Enea BASTIANINI | KTM | 17.31 |
| 11 | 10 | Alexis MASBOU | Honda | 18.821 |
| 12 | 58 | Juanfran GUEVARA | Kalex KTM | 19.038 |
| 13 | 19 | Alessandro TONUCCI | Mahindra | 19.197 |
| 14 | 41 | Brad BINDER | Mahindra | 29.001 |
| 15 | 63 | Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN | Honda | 38.124 |
| 16 | 38 | Hafiq AZMI | KTM | 38.61 |
| 17 | 9 | Scott DEROUE | Kalex KTM | 38.669 |
| 18 | 51 | Bryan SCHOUTEN | Mahindra | 38.807 |
| 19 | 57 | Eric GRANADO | KTM | 48.717 |
| 20 | 84 | Jakub KORNFEIL | KTM | 58.925 |
| 21 | 65 | Philipp OETTL | Kalex KTM | 59.582 |
| 22 | 61 | Arthur SISSIS | Mahindra | +1'00.029 |
| 23 | 22 | Ana CARRASCO | Kalex KTM | +1'00.112 |
| 24 | 95 | Jules DANILO | Mahindra | +1'06.128 |
| 25 | 23 | Niccolò ANTONELLI | KTM | +1'10.178 |
| 26 | 4 | Gabriel RAMOS | Kalex KTM | +1'20.240 |
| Not Classified | ||||
| 3 | Matteo FERRARI | Mahindra | 2 Laps | |
| 98 | Karel HANIKA | KTM | 3 Laps | |
| 43 | Luca GRÜNWALD | Kalex KTM | 12 Laps | |
| 21 | Francesco BAGNAIA | KTM | 13 Laps | |
| 17 | John MCPHEE | Honda | 14 Laps | |
| 55 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Mahindra | 0 Lap | |
| Not Starting | ||||
| 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | Mahindra | 0 Lap | |
Comments
Reminded me of NASCAR at Talladega
Moto 3 is so very aero-dependent that it always brings to mind stock cars at Talladega. OK, I don't really mean that, because Moto 3 lap times do require a lot of skill, and Talladega is the NASCAR venue that doesn't reward pilot skill. But still, both races feature many meaningless passes derived from slipstreaming, passes that only have meaning when they come on the last lap. Just my opinion.
I'm glad the last lap contact was ruled a racing incident, not deserving of punishment.
do you rather ...
... like to watch processionel racing ???
The Moto3 race was - again - awsome (appart from the F*ck*ng vuvuzela sound the bikes make) and as racing is supposed to be.
Did I say I dislike Talladega?
The constant passing and re-passing at Talladega makes it the favorite track of many NASCAR fans. It is all a result of aerodynamics on a circuit with very high speeds and very low horsepower. Actually, I do dislike Talladega because the passes are all meaningless until the very last lap. IMO, the nature of the track, the use of restricter plates, and the laws of aerodynamics create *the illusion* of close competitive racing. Other tracks that reward driver skill and set-up skill are much more interesting to me.
Moto 3 features a lot of aero-derived pack racing and overtaking, and that reminds me of stock cars at Talladega, but as I posted above, Moto 3 does also require a lot of skill in the corners. But I'd find Moto 3 more interesting to watch if the horsepower were doubled or tripled, which would reduce the role played by aerodynamics.
So about that anthem...
The funny thing is the organizers played French national anthem after the Italian Fenati won. Given that Fenati is on Valentino Rossi's team, and that Fenati bumped an Australian (Miller) to win, it made me wonder if Casey Stoner had control over the music.
Great race!
Loved every bit of it. Great race, fantastic final lap.
To be fair the Belgian well deserved his final place. The scraping between the top three hasn't really given him any advantage, maybe just shortened the gap towards the podium.