Romano Fenati took victory in the opening race in Misano, but it wasn’t plain sailing for any of his rivals. The Italian stormed to the finish line 28.5 seconds ahead of his closest rival, championship leader Joan Mir, with Fabio Di Giannantonio finishing a further 11.5 seconds behind in third.
Original pole sitter Enea Bastianini fell victim to a three place grid penalty for irresponsible riding during qualifying, seeing him pushed back to fourth and Jorge Martin promoted to pole. Only a couple of laps in, and Bastianini succumbed to turn one and then turn six later on in the race, but managed to remount and finish in the points.
Turn six seemed to be the one catching most riders out, with John McPhee, Niccolo Antonelli and Jules Danilo all sliding into the gravel at the same time with sixteen laps to go in separate incidents. Both Ayumu Sasaki and Aron Canet were also caught at turn six, with turn one also claiming riders such as Juanfran Guevara, Bastianini, and Jorge Martin who was on for a podium.
But Fenati was oblivious to all that was going on behind him, and he rode to an incredible victory in front of his home crowd. It was purely damage limitation for Mir who came home in second, as he still grasps the title with both hands as we head into Aragon and the flyaways.
In fact, only half of the 32 strong field finished the wet race, with the wildcards Jaume Masia and Alex Fabri finishing particularly well in 10th and 13th. A notable performance from Bo Bendsneyder too, who fell while challenging in the top six back to 19th. He picked off the pack to finish in 6th – an impressive performance from the Dutchman.
The Moto3 grid rolls into Aragon in two weeks time, where championship leader Joan Mir will be looking to extend his lead.
Top ten:
- Romano Fenati (Marinelli Rivacold Snipers) – 46:24.290
- Joan Mir (Leopard Racing +28.594
- Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) +39.095
- Philipp Oettl (Sudmetall Schedl GP Racing) +55.591
- Nicolo Bulega (Sky Racing Team VR46) +1:02.433
- Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +1:09.312
- Jakub Kornfeil (Peugeot MC Saxoprint) +1:09.984
- Albert Arenas (Aspar Mahindra Moto3) +1:13.420
- Andrea Migno (Sky Racing Team VR46) +1:22.747
- Jaume Masia (Platinum Bay Real Estate) +1:32.446
