MOTOGP
MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 6/MAY 31, 2015
MUGELLO CIRCUIT/MUGELLO, ITALY
P78
>>OLIVEIRA
GETS HIS FIRST
It is hard to find words to describe the Italian Moto3
Grand Prix. Superlative heaped upon superlative could
barely do justice to a feast of ultra-close multi-marque rac-
ing on genuine grand prix bikes, all tooth-and-nail tactics
and ruthless precision. Everything one-make Moto2 is not.
Mugello's high-speed turns and long slip-streaming
straight make close racing almost compulsory in the small-
est class. Seven laps in, the first 16 were still all within 1.5
seconds.
The lead group, eventually eight strong, with some
close stragglers, were swapping constantly and two or
even three abreast through some corners.
It hardly mattered who led over the line each time, since
it would all be different by the time they reached the first
corner. As title leader Danny Kent on the Leopard Honda
said: "Mugello is very special: you can exit the last corner
in first but at the end of the straight you find yourself back
in 10th. So you need to ride very clever."
There were two ways of doing so.
Red Bull KTM's Miguel Oliveira chose the head down
and believe-in-yourself approach. He led more often over
the line than anybody—11 laps in all, including the last six.
His sheer speed meant he started the last with enough
margin to stay just clear of any final slipstream attack. The
articulate and multi-lingual Portuguese dentistry student
won his first grand prix by .071 of a second.
Kent went for wait-and-see. He dropped as low as 13th
on lap nine, back up to 10th three laps later. "I wasn't wor-
ried. We were still close, nobody was getting away, and I
knew I had the speed to get back," he said.
Quite so, and he was inches short of victory.
Mapfre Mahindra's Pecco Bagnaia had also come on
strong in the closing stages, and was third out of the last
corner, pushed a little wide as Kent came through inside.
Enough for earlier leader Romano Fenati on the VR46
