Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/553925
VOL. 52 ISSUE 32 AUGUST 11, 2015 P79 FIRST TIMERS Tales of the unexpected, in spades, with three first-timers on the rostrum, and runaway title leader Danny Kent on the Leopard Racing machine down in 21st. These facts alone tell the story of a truly bizarre Moto3 race, with only 16 riders of 32 finishers on the same lap as first-time win- ner Livio Loi on the RW Racing Honda. It was the weather that did it. It started raining some 30 minutes before the start, and riders (in all classes) were given extra sighting laps to assess these new conditions. Then it stopped raining as they were on the grid, and as it had never been very hard and it was a warm day, the track started drying very quickly. Loi took the big gamble, swapping his wet tires for slicks on the grid. A handful of others—SaxoPrint Honda's John McPhee, Schedl KTM's Philipp Oettl, VR46 Sky KTM's Andrea Migno and Ongetta Honda's Jules Danilo— decided too late to do the same, and had to start from pit lane. This paid off big-time. SaxoPrint Honda's Alexis Masbou led away, and for the first three laps, chased by Efren Vazquez on the other Leopard Honda. Pole starter Kent was nowhere to be seen, finishing lap one 30th as he joined a mass dash to the pits for a tire change. Other riders put this off for a lap or two, but it was clearly a necessary decision, dem- onstrated by Masbou, who didn't change, and came last. Loi took over the lead on lap four, already well clear of Masbou and running away by miles, to become the second Belgian to win a Grand Prix in two races, after Simeon in Moto2 in Germany. The previous Belgian win- ner had been Didier de Radigues, in 1983. McPhee came through to second a lap later, 40 seconds behind at the end, staying ahead of Oettl by 20 seconds. With pit lane experiencing heavy traffic and riders getting frantic as mechanics battled to change wheels quickly on bikes not designed for the job, confusion reigned. VR46 Sky rider Romano Fenati put on a particularly histrionic display, but it seemed to help, because he was fourth, only 20 seconds behind Oettl. Then came Isaac Vinales on the RBA KTM, followed by battling gang, more like the usual Moto3 spectacle. Gresini Honda's Enea Bastianini got the best of them on the last lap for sixth, with Ongetta Honda's Niccolo Antonelli, Red Bull KTM's Brad Binder and EG Honda's Jorge Navarro hard up behind. Rookie Jorge Martin on the Mapfre Mahindra completed the top 10. Little change at the top of the title table, although Bas- tianini did regain 11 points on Kent, with 190 points to the Italian's 134. Fenati took over third, 112 points to Oliveira's 103. Vazquez crashed out, and stayed fifth on 96. Baby faced Livio Loi made an inspired tire choice to steal an inspired maiden Moto3 victory. out by cold brakes after the start, and dropped to 13th after almost running into Smith "for an all-British second-corner crash." Espargaro managed to get back in front for the last two laps, to save seventh. Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso was ninth after getting pushed off at the second corner by the swerving Crutchlow, "in the wrong place at the wrong time," rejoining last. His last victim after a strong ride through was the fading Petrucci. Ecstar Suzuki's Maverick Vina- les came through well for a lone eleventh, outpacing Petrucci's teammate Yonny Hernandez in the last laps. E-G Marc VDS Honda's Scott Redding was a distant 13th, dropping from ninth in the early laps as his problems adapting to the factory bike con-