Moto3: Salom wins, Vinales out in Aragon drama

By Lisa Lewis

Louis Salom took a dramatic win for RW Racing in a busy Moto3 race at Motorland Aragon, with the top ten riders all in victory contention for most of the race.

It is Salom's second win, while Kalex-KTM/KTM bikes filled the top four positions.

Salom got the better of his injury woes, riding through the pain barrier to take an impressive victory on the last lap despite hurting his collarbone in practice and crashing again in Sunday warm-up.

The Spaniard powered past Sandro Cortese and Jonas Folger to snatch victory by 0.155, moving Salom to second in the world championship standings.

Championship leader Cortese cut through the field on the Red Bull KTM to hit the front after seven laps but could not lose the chasing pack, saying in parc ferme that he "really wanted to win and gave everything" and revealing that he has been ill all race weekend.

His second place maintains his record of 12 podiums from 13 races this season and means he has achieved a top six finish at every grand prix since Aragon last year. The German rider now holds a championship lead of 51 points, over Salom.

Pole-sitter Jonas Folger manoeuvred his Mapfre Aspar into an early lead and after falling back into the pack fought back in "one of the hardest races" to complete the podium.

British rider Danny Kent stamped his authority on the race hitting the front with seven laps to go, but was forced wide and off track in the closing stages, he still managed a late comeback to take fourth for the Red Bull KTM team.

Efren Vazquez was next across the stripe for JHK Laglisse and the first non-KTM finisher placing fifth for FTR Honda, Alex Rins finished sixth for Estrella Galicia while Frenchman Louis Rossi was seventh for Racing Team Germany.

Rins' team mate Miguel Oliveira crossed the line eighth, with Red Bull KTM's Arthur Sissis in ninth. Gresini rider Niccolo Antonelli completes the top ten.

Jakub Kornfeil brought his FTR Honda home in 11th with Team Italia FMI rider Alessandro Tonucci 12th. JHK Laglisse rider Alberto Moncayo was 13th and Niklas Ajo 14th for TT Motion Events. The final points place was claimed by Alex Marquez for Ambrogio Next racing.

Caretta replacement rider John McPhee was 22nd on his KRP Honda and Danny Webb crossed the line 25th on the Mahindra.

Maverick Vinales saw his fading championship hopes take a massive blow when his Blusens Avintia suffered an engine issue on the warm-up lap and despite his best efforts and help from the marshals the FTR Honda could not be restarted.

Vinales kicked his bike in anger before embarking on his walk back to the pits. The Spanish teenager had previously brought up his engine concerns during Saturday's press conference. He drops to third in the championship after four successive races off the podium.

Romano Fenati entered the Team Italia FMI pit box with 11 laps remaining, his FTR Honda suffering an oil leak to end his race.

Zulfahmi Khairuddin battled with the frontrunners aboard his AirAsia sponsored KTM, but crashed out with six laps to go.