Amidst temperatures of 20ºC and with clear skies overhead, the Moto3 race at Mugello saw the best conditions of the entire weekend. The action was split into two groups: The leading pack and the trailing group. Jonas Folger, Maverick Viñales, Luis Salom and Alex Rins set the early pace, soon joined by Miguel Oliveira and Alex Marquez before a quarter of the race had been completed. That group of six would decide who would be on the top step of the podium, as expected after yesterday’s close qualifying session. There were battles all the way down the order, with only Antonelli out on his own. Victory eventually went to Salom in a tight finish. He pushed hardest on the final metres of the race, winning out ahead of Rins and Viñales at round five of the series.
Perseverance and grit combined once again at Mugello for MAPFRE Aspar rider Jonas Folger, who dug deep in order to earn the best possible result at the Italian Grand Prix. From pole position and with the idea of breaking away, Folger led the field in the early going. He was in front for the opening two laps, before Viñales passed him for the lead. He stuck with the frontrunners until the midway point in the contest, at which time his tyres went off prematurely and he battled with chatter issues. Despite this, he held on for sixth place at Mugello.
Like Folger, teammate Eric Granado got off to a great start –one that left him in a position to compete with the chasing pack. He enjoyed the race immensely, pushed hard and showed excellent control of his pace, and received a just reward for his efforts as he crossed the line in ninth place, taking his first seven points in the World Championship.
6th Jonas Folger:
"After a good start I tried to push hard, but the race times were slow compared with the laps we’d been doing in practice. When I was caught by Viñales I tried to stay in the leading group, but soon after I noticed that the bike was behaving in a completely different way to yesterday and this morning. We had not changed anything, the setting was the same, and the weather conditions had not changed too much, so I don’t know what could have happened. I suffered a lot of chattering from the middle of the race onwards, and that prevented me from maintaining good lines on my laps. I had to be very careful in order to avoid crashing, but I still tried to push hard for the best possible final position and I managed to cross the line sixth."
9th Eric Granado:"
I had a great race today. A good start allowed me to gain several positions at the beginning of the race. Jorge and Gino advised me to always look ahead and not waste time with the riders behind me. I followed their advice and thanks to that I found a good pace immediately. I had a lot of fun riding in a group, as I knew that there were many riders trying to stay in front for as long as possible in order to avoid any surprises. I gave my all on every lap, feeling out my chances for the end of the race. I managed to overtake someone on the home straight and finally finished ninth. It was very exciting to take my first points in the World Championship, I'm very happy. Now we have to keep working hard, both at the test on Tuesday and at the next race in Barcelona. I want to thank both the team and the sponsors, who have not given up on me at any time."
Aspar Mapfre Moto3 Press Release
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