Fifth seal of the season for Joan Mir at the Sachsenring
Mallorca’s talent wins the GP of Germany after a three-way battle and a calculated overtake at the penultimate curve. The only rider always points, Mir consolidates his championship lead.
At 11:00 local time, the Sachsenring’s lights went out, the midway point in the 2017 season official here. On the sun-kissed starting grid, the Leopard Racing Team’s duo started from the 1st and 5th row respectively with Joan Mir and Livio Loi. The pair were fully focussed on the 27 laps of the race after highlighting their pace throughout the German weekend.
Mir launched well and ripped into the lead at the first corner, followed by Ramirez and Arbolino who passed pole man Canet. Fenati joined their battle, taking the lead on the second lap and beginning a race long duel with Mir.
Five riders formed the head of the train and detached themselves into the lead, but soon Mir, Fenati and Ramirez were further isolated.
In the middle of the race, the top riders continued to stretch their advantage. Livio Loi, struggling in traffic and lurking behind the local hero Oettl, waited for his moment. AT the head of the race, Mir and Fenati attacked each other at every turn. Eight laps from the end, a highside for Arbolino further broke up the leaders.
Ramirez continued to push Mir and Fenati, the trio fighting for a guaranteed spot on the podium. Fenati began to try and push away, but the talent of Palma de Mallorca did not react, instead following in his wake. Then, at Turn 12, he attacked to steal victory. Joan Mir’s victory at the Germany GP, his fifth win in nine races, solidifies him as the leader in the standings (and the only Moto3 rider to score at each round), consolidating a 37-point lead over Fenati.
The World Championship will observe a break of 1 month now over the summer. The Moto3 world title battle will resume in Brno for the Czech Grand Prix (August 4-6) and the following week at Spielberg for the Grand Prix of Austria (August 11-13). Stay tuned!
#36 Joan MIR – 1st:
“This victory means a great deal! I wanted to leave Assen’s fault behind and prove I could win: and I wanted to win here. It was a long and difficult race, I immediately tried to make a break with a small group. I had a good pace and in the end our strategy worked perfectly. I would never have imagined getting to the Championship’s break with this margin of an advantage, but there are still many races. Now, a week of vacation, then I’ll get back to training.”