Misano Moto3: Fenati wins with wet masterclass
Romano Fenati took his second win of the season in style, riding an almost perfect race in the treacherous conditions which saw only fifteen bikes finish the race.
The Marinelli Rivacold Snipers rider had incredible pace once he hit the front, lapping over a second faster than his rivals and with riders tumbling out behind him the Italian found himself an untouchable 28.6 seconds clear at the chequered flag.
The experienced rider carefully picked his lines away form the wettest parts of the track to look confident in the absolutely soaking conditions in front of a home crowd..
He is joined on the all-Honda podium by championship leader Joan Mir, the Leopard rider eventually giving up the chase to see his championship lead down by just three points, now 61 points clear of Fenati, who moves up to second in the overall standings. Mir has managed a points finish at every round so far this season.
The pair both survived late wobbles as the gaps between the riders on track left them plenty of time to recover without dropping position.
Third went to Fabio Di Giannantonio, who survived his battle with Aron Canet, the Gresini rider pulling a wheelie over the line in celebration of finishing in the wet.
Philipp Oettl saw many ahead of him slide away but rode sensibly to collect fourth for Sudmetall Schedl GP, with Nicolo Bulega next to see the finish line in fifth for Sky Racing Team VR46.
Bo Bendsneyder was an early faller but picked himself up and had enough time to make it back to sixth for Red Bull KTM Ajo.
Jakub Kornfeil had an eventful race - he skittled down the order from the top ten after a big save in the early stages, made a comeback for Peugeot MC Saxoprint before having to drop back a place for overtaking under waved yellow flags, before moving up to an eventual seventh.
Albert Arenas(Aspar Mahindra) was eighth - his best finish to date, with Andrea Migno ninth on the second Sky Racing entry.
Darryn Binder’s replacement at Platinum Bay Real Estate, Jaume Masia, also managed the conditions well for a top ten finish.
Manuel Pagliani (CIP) was the best of the rookies in eleventh with Marcos Ramirez taking twelfth on the second Platinum Bay entry.
Wild-card Alex Fabbri (Minimoto Portomaggiore) finished in the points in 13th though Kevin Zannoni was a late faller.
Estrella Galicia’s Enea Bastianini continued his miserable weekend after losing pole through a penalty by being first off. |he rejoined only to crash again.Despite this he still managed a points finish by remounting, crossing the line a lap down at the same time as Di Giannannonio.
Another faller, Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Aspar MAhindra) took the final point after Patrik Pulkkinen fell on the final lap.
Gabriel Rodrigo, Tatsuki Suzuki and Nakarin Atiratphuvapat all suffered early exits.
Adam Norrodin and Lorenzo Dalla Porta didn’t last much longer, with the trio of John McPhee, Niccolo Antonelli and Jules Danilo all off at the same corner next. Antonelli rejoined only to later end up in the gravel again.
Juanfran Guevara was next to exit at turn one, with the man who inherited pole; Jorge Martin; slipping out of second place at the same corner.
Marco Bezzecchi also failed to go the distance , crashing twice with Ayumu Sasaki leaving with ten laps to go.
Tony Arbolino, Kaito Toba and Aron Canet, who was fighting for third with Di Giannantonio at the time, all left the action in the closing stages.
Livio Loi missed the race after fracturing his collarbone in his horrific qualifying tangle in qualifying, Maria Herrera was also absent with a collarbone injury after her crash in the wet morning warm-up.
