Moto3 Round One Losail

Courtesy of KTM

Tight Moto3 race launches season at Qatar night circuit The 2015 season of the Moto3 World Championship got underway at the Losail Circuit in Qatar on Sunday but the race, which in its closing stages could have gone to any of 15 riders, was hard work for the Red Bull KTM Ajo riders. Factory rider Brad Binder was among the top action from the start of the race, including taking the lead on multiple occasions right up to the sixteenth of 18 laps. When he crossed the line he was just 1.3 seconds off the winning pace at tenth position, an indication of how tight it was as riders charged the finish. The race win finally went to French rider Alexis Masbou. Brad Binder: “The start of the race went very well. I made a good start, overtaking a few riders and getting up to the front. The first 10 laps went very well and I rode very comfortably, alternating amongst the top three positions. Later I noticed that I was lacking a bit of power and it was very difficult to use the slipstream at the end of the race. I only finished tenth, but I’m happy with how I rode. I could have fought for the podium, but this is only the beginning and it’s a long season.” Probably the unluckiest rider on the floodlit circuit in Qatar was the Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliveira. After a very competitive qualifying session, the Portuguese rider started on the third row of the grid but was clipped by another rider in a rider melee going into the first corner. Oliveira quickly scrambled back into the race but spent the next 17 laps fighting his way through the field from dead last. His eventual sixteenth place was heroic, but left him one place shy of picking up a championship point. Oliveira was understandably disappointed. “Because on the first corner another rider hit me from the inside and I couldn’t avoid the crash. I got back in the race and made up a lot of time. I really believe I could have been fighting for victory today if everything had gone well and I’m sad I wasn’t able to get any points. We have to learn from today and take back the points.” Teammate Karel Hanika was around sixteenth at the start and went on to finish thirteenth, crossing the line 01.869 off the winning pace. Hanika admitted the race had been difficult. “I tried to hold my position for the first few laps, but I lost a bit of time to those ahead of me and later it was tough to overtake them. When I did so, I couldn’t make the passes stick. A few laps from the end I was able to latch back onto the front group. I think I can be happy with my performance. Next Event: GP of the Americas, USA, April 12, 2015   ** Moto GP of Qatar – Losail Circuit – Round 1 Moto3 Results 1, Alexis Masbou, FRA, Honda, 38:25.424 2, Enea Bastianini, ITA, Honda, 38:25.451 3, Danny Kent, GBR, Honda, 38:25.566 4, Efren Vazquez, ESP, Honda, 38:25.712 5, John McPhee, GBR, Honda, 38:26.117 6, Isaac Viñales, ESP, Husqvarna, 38:26.189 7, Fabio Quartararo, FRA, Honda, 38:26.196 8, Niccolo Antonelli, ITA, Honda, 38:26.197 9, Francesco Bagnaia, ITA, Mahindra, 38:26.333 10, Brad Binder, RSA, KTM, 38:26.741 Other KTM 13, Karel Hanika, CZE, KTM, 38:27.293 14, Philipp Oettl, GER, KTM, 38:27.928 16, Miquel Oliveira, POR, KTM, 38:32.238 (crashed in first corner; fought back from last) 17, Jakub Kornfeil, CZE, KTM, 38:34.184 24, Andrea Migno ITA, KTM, 38:54.909 27, Gabriel Rodrigo, ARG, KTM, 39:11.830 28, Zulfahmi Khairuddin, MAL, KTM, 39:29.833 29, Loris Cresson, BEL, KTM, 40:06.030 DNF, Romano Fenati, ITA, KTM, 36:27.034 DNF, Niklas Ajo, FIN, KTM, 2:17.845 DNS, Ana Carrasco, ESP, KTM Moto3 Standings after Round 1 1, Masbou, 25 2, Bastianini, 20 3, Kent, 16 4, Vazquez, 13 5, McPhee, 11 6, Viñales, 10 7, Quartararo, 9 8, Antonelli, 8 9, Bagnaia, 7 10, Binder, 6 Other KTM 13, Hanika, 3 14, Oettl, 2 More at www.motogp.com

Brad Binder in the lead of the highly competitive first round of Moto3 Hanika in action on the Losails Circuit Oliveira victim of rider tangle in opening corner but promises to come back strong

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