swarm to fifth. Fabio Quartararo
(Pons Kalex) was in the group,
but punted off to drop back out
of the points.
This promoted Morbidelli
to eighth, but he was not only
unable to catch Simone Corsi
(Speed Up) and Bagnaia ahead
of him (Corsi taking sixth halfway
through), but had his hands full
fending off an on-form Remy
Gardner (Tech 3).
Luthi's first win backed by
a string of five second places
brought him to within 17 points
of long-time points leader and
six-times winner Morbidelli, 182-
165. Marquez and Oliveira have
133 points, then Bagnaia 87.
Moto3
First-time pole qualifier Gabriel
Rodrigo (RBA KTM) broke a
season-long run of Honda poles,
but it was business as usual on
race day, with the eighth all-
Honda podium lock-out, and a
sixth win for runaway title leader
Joan Mir.
It didn't come easy, on a dry-
ing track.
The first leader was second
RBA rider Juanfran Guevara,
also off the front row, and he
went to and fro with Bo Bend-
sneyder (Red Bull KTM), the pair
even threatening to break away
as Romano Fenati (Rivacold
Honda), Mir (Leopard Honda),
Marcos Ramirez (Platinum Bay
KTM) and for a while rookie Na-
karin Atiratphuvapat (Team Asia
Honda) battled behind them.
By half-distance, though,
Fenati and Mir had closed up
again, and it was a four-way
battle of much variety.
Mir took the lead for the first
time on lap 16 and put the ham-
mer down. Only Fenati could
go with him, and was still three
tenths behind over the line.
By now, Aron Canet (EG
Honda) had arrived, after a
MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHP
ROUND 10 / AUGUST 4-6, 2017
BRNO CIRCUIT / OSTROVAČICE, CZECH REPUBLIC
P62
Once again, it was Mir who kept
his powder dry for another win.
