Lucky escape leaves Jorge Martin to finish 15th at Misano, DNF for Juanfran Guevara

A huge Italian party at a sold-out Misano kicked off in perfect fashion for the home crowd as an Italian rider took victory in Moto3. Enea Bastianini, who took pole position yesterday, was roared on to victory after an almighty battle with Fenati, Oliveira, Binder and Vázquez.

Despite the skirmish in the lead group the pace was still a rapid mid-1’43 per lap, with a new record of 1’42.841 included. Oliveira tried to take the lead in the closing stages but Bastianini sealed victory with a brutal overtake as Antonelli provided further home joy behind them with the final podium position.

Jorge Martín pushed hard early in the race to recover from a discreet start and despite not enjoying the same feeling that he’d had during practice here the MAPFRE Team Mahindra youngster fought to the end for a points-scoring finish.

A final-corner battle with his team-mate Juanfran Guevara almost finished with both riders on the floor but as Martín stayed upright, Guevara was not so lucky.

15th Jorge Martín:
“Today wasn’t our day. I had good pace all weekend but the feeling in the race was not the same. I didn’t make a good start but I managed to recover quickly and just when I started to catch the second group I had some problems with the gearbox and lost some pace, which allowed the guys behind me to catch up. After that it was a tough race and I had to fight hard. Three corners from the end of the last lap I passed Juanfran and I knew he would come back at me in the last turn. He went for the inside and we both almost crashed. It was a racing incident and luckily I managed to stay up and score a point, which means we can leave Misano feeling happy.”

Juanfran Guevara (DNF):
“I made a strong start and after a couple of laps I had got myself into a good position. On the second or third lap I touched with another rider, who tried to run me off track, and I lost my brakes for a few corners whilst I repositioned the lever. After that I was able to come back and get into the group that was fighting for the last few points. I made a big effort over the last few laps and pushed really hard and the tyres were really finished. Almost at the end I got passed by Manzi and Martín and I didn’t want all my effort to go to waste so I tried to get them back in the last corner. The bike went sideways and I couldn’t control it, I touched with my team-mate and I crashed.”

Source: Aspar Media