Positive riding conditions at Misano finally arrived for Sunday, and the Moto3 riders made the most of them to put on a close show. The top seven were separated by just 1.3 seconds, although the race win went to championship leader Sandro Cortese. Race pace was similar to in qualifying -1’44- and there was nothing in it until the final lap. Cortese finally split the group and took the win, ahead of Salom and Fenati.
After two races on the podium, MAPFRE Aspar rider Jonas Folger was not quite able to keep up his streak in today’s 23-lap contest. The German was disappointed to finish off the rostrum, but happy with a sixth place and a final time just a second off the winner. From sixth on the grid, Folger moved up into second on the opening pair of corners, then stuck with the leading group. Lacking a little acceleration, he made up time with daring late braking and held on for ten more points.
Teammate Héctor Faubel also had a great start, but contact from various riders on the opening lap cut him off from the leaders. He tried a comeback, alongside Khairuddin in no-man’s land, but eventually placed thirteenth.
6th Jonas Folger: “Today was a very close race, and I finished just a second off the winner. I am happy, because we did a great job this weekend. It is just a pity that we couldn’t cap it off with another podium. On some corners I could feel that my bike lacked a little acceleration, perhaps for the weight, because I didn’t take the right line or because I was lacking power. I had to brake extremely late in order to not lose touch with the leaders. I am satisfied, because we had a great race. On the final laps I could see that it was going to be tough, because there were a lot of riders going for the podium. In the end I moved up a place and got sixth place. We improved our front end feeling a lot and I can sense that the bike is much more stable in the dry. Even though I didn’t take another podium and I am annoyed about that, I will keep the motivation from this for the next race.”
13th Héctor Faubel: “At the start of the race I was going well and maintained my position. I went into the doublé ‘S’ on the inside, passing three riders. But there was a lot of contact and we lost touch with the lead group. Alongside Khairuddin I pushed hard to latch back onto the front pack and improved upon my qualifying times. I hoped that those ahead of me would slow each other down, but they never let up. I couldn’t do much more. It is positive that we finished 14 seconds behind the podium finishers despite starting from so far back, but I am not happy with thirteenth. I think that we deserved a good result, but it wasn’t to be here. We now have to keep working our hardest to place as well as possible at Motorland.”
Mapfre Aspar Moto3 Press Release
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