Moto3

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MOTO3: Romano Fenati Dominates in Great Britain

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Published on August 30, 2021
By Admin

A masterclass from Romano Fenati as he controlled the race with one rider for company throughout. Pedro Acosta took points but struggled to get a good result while Sergio Garcia failed to score.


A chilly morning for the British Moto3 Grand Prix at Silverstone with the grandstands and terraces packed after two whole years of no MotoGP Championship action.


Romano Fenati lined up on pole position after a clean sweep over the weekend, being blindingly fast and top of every session. He was very reluctant to tow anybody round in any session this weekend and all his super-quick laps came when he was all by himself on-track. He was in a very precarious position though, with the man who grabbed all the headlines for the wrong reasons in Austria, Gabriel Rodrigo, alongside him in second. Riccardo Rossi lined up in third after a sterling effort in qualifying on Saturday.


The two championship contenders, Pedro Acosta and Sergio Garcia had miserable qualifying sessions and sat deep on the grid on Row eight in 22nd and 24th respectively.


The lights went out and the Moto3 bikes all buzzed into Turn one. Rodrigo got alongside Fenati into Copse, but Fenati let the brake off and sailed around the outside to retain the lead. The fight for second went three-abreast into Maggots, and Niccolo Antonelli got the better of Rodrigo and Riccardo Rossi to set off after Fenati who was already 10-bike lengths clear. John McPhee got himself in an awkward position and was nerfed out onto the run-off at Becketts. He was dead-last going onto the Hangar Straight.


Andrea Migno stormed into third. Acosta and Garcia got close into Vale, but they made up a few positions off the start to get into a group of riders. Fenati and Antonelli were clearing off as they completed the first lap.


Darryn Binder made good progress in the opening lap and was up to eighth at the end of the first lap. Jeremy Alcoba however went backwards, losing 11 positions in the first lap. Migno bridged the gap to the two leaders at the end of Lap two. Acosta and Garcia got close again into Aintree with Acosta showing Garcia the edge of the track going out onto the Wellington Straight. Garcia tucked in behind the Championship Leader. On Lap three they were battling for 11th.


Kaito Toba had a crash at Farm and that finished his less-than-ideal weekend off in the gravel on Lap four. John McPhee worked his way back to 15th with a long way to go in the race. He was now battling with Acosta and Garcia.


On Lap six, third place man, and probably the unluckiest man in Moto3, Andrea Migno, broke down at Copse. His Rivacold Snipers Honda gave up the ghost and he leant the bike up against the barriers to start his short walk back to the paddock. That turned the race into a two-bike breakaway, with Romano Fenati and a battered and bruised Niccolo Antonelli, after he broke a few fingers in Styria.


3.2 seconds behind the leaders, there was a battle for third with a group of seven riders swapping positions, but Dennis Foggia led the group. The next group was a further four-seconds behind that group, battling for 10th and that was the group that featured Pedro Acosta, Sergio Garcia and John McPhee along with seven other riders with nine-laps remaining.


Back at the front, Fenati and Antonelli were still pinned together with eight laps to go. Antonelli did not want to let Fenati get away and watched closely in the wheel-tracks of the Husqvarna. They were the full pit-straight clear of the group fighting for third, still headed by Dennis Foggia.


Rookie, Izan Guevara was looking more like his Junior World Championship Moto3 self, sat in fourth just ahead of Darryn Binder. He’s starting to show his real talent fighting for positions near the front. The next group was intense with six-laps remaining. Filip Salac led the group for a full lap as Stefano Nepa, John McPhee and Pedro Acosta battled. Acosta got it all wrong going into Luffield and let three riders though. He couldn’t get a rhythm and struggled to make it work.


With five-laps left, Fenati pushed on to try and break his compatriot Antonelli and opened a half second gap, but Antonelli immediately responded in the Sector three, bringing it back to a 0.2 second gap.


With three-laps to go, Acosta, Carlos Tatay and Sergio Garcia got all a bit close into Luffield as three bikes didn’t fit into one but the all got out unscathed. Dennis Foggia looked very fast in the closing stages and had a better pace than the leaders, but looked to have left it too late.


With two-laps remaining, Romano Fenati threw the kitchen sink at it and broke Niccolo Antonelli. Antonelli looked to be labouring as he started to drop towards a flying Foggia. He took a second out of the gap in just one lap and was bringing the GASGAS of Izan Guevara with him.


Into the final into Stowe, Izan Guevara passed Foggia to take third. Foggia retook the position into Farm. Foggia went defensive into Brooklands to hold off the enthusiastic rookie.


Fenati crossed the line nearly two-seconds clear of the heroic Niccolo Antonelli to take victory in the British Grand Prix. Dennis Foggia took third to make it an all-Italian podium, ahead of Izan Guevara. Tatsuki Suzuki managed to get fifth ahead of Jaume Masia and Darryn Binder. Deniz Oncu took eighth ahead of Riccardo Rossi. 10th was Carlos Tatay after he made a break from the crazy group fighting for 11th, which was headed by a resurgent John McPhee. He was relegated a position for transgressing track limits so finished in 12th. Pedro Acosta managed to scrape five points together in 11th after his one-place promotion while his Championship chaser, Sergio Garcia failed to score in 16th.


A masterclass from Romano Fenati. Managed to be fastest in every session then controlled the race from the front. He didn’t just win the race, he won the round doing an incredible job on the cold, smooth tarmac of Silverstone.

Featured Image: MotoGP.com

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