VOL. 51 ISSUE 33 AUGUST 19, 2014 P75
MASBOU ENDS DROUGHT
What a race. A lead
group of 17, still 16-strong
at the end, crossing the
line within 1.9 seconds and
the hindmost out of the
points.
Almost any of them
could have won and
Estrella Honda rider Alex
Rins thought he had done
so, by inches. He crossed
the line, stood up in the
seat and punched the
air. Sadly, it was one lap
too early, and he hastily
sat down again and took
up the pursuit, eventually
finishing a shamefaced
ninth.
The victory, his first in
133 races, went to French
Ongetta Honda rider Alex
Masbou, by less than
two tenths from rookie Enea
Bastianini on the Go&Fun KTM,
with Red Bull Husqvarna's Danny
Kent in third.
Experience counted for
something, daring for something,
and luck for a great deal more.
It is usual in Moto3 for the lead
to change hands several times
every lap, but seldom with quite
so many candidates.
As title leader Jack Miller on
the Red Bull KTM explained,
however: "When you get into
these big groups, you can't get
away, and it slows the whole
pace down, so the group just
gets bigger and bigger."
Miller had stayed cool in the
pack until the closing laps and
only then did he come through
to lead at sundry points on the
track, though never over the line.
The rider who did that more
than anybody was pole starter
Alex Marquez on the Estrella
Honda, eight times, and it was he
who headed Miller over the line
by two hundredths of a second
for fourth.
Fifth-placed Brad Binder on
the Ambrogio Mahindra led on
track now and then in an impres-
sive push, but also never over
the line, and was inches behind
in sixth; with official Mahindra
rider Miguel Oliveira sixth, him-
self inches ahead of SaxoPrint
Honda's Efren Vazquez, with the
recovered Rins on his tail.
With Isaac Vinales on the
Calvo KTM tenth, while three-
times winner Romano Fenati on
the Sky VR46 KTM was some-
thing of a loser in 11
th
.
Miller's title lead increased
over new second-placed Mar-
quez, 169 to 146. Vazquez is
now third with 145, followed by
Fenati's 135 and Rins' 125.
Alex Masbou crossed the finish
line first at Brno in a crazy
Moto3 race with 16 riders in
the lead pack separated by 1.9
seconds.
The battle for fifth was fought
between the two Ducs – Andrea
Dovisioso (4) and Iannone (29).
In the end it was Iannone on
the Pramac Ducati that crossed
the line ahead of his future
teammate.
