MOTOGP » Moto3: Danny Kent snatches first win in Motegi madness

14 October 2012
Danny Kent goes from fifth to first in an action-packed final lap at Motegi - team-mate and Moto3 Championship leader Sandro Cortese furious after late fall
Moto3: Danny Kent snatches first win in Motegi madness
By Lisa Lewis

Red Bull KTM rider Danny Kent took a dramatic Moto3 win at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit in a race which could have decided the inaugural Moto3 World Championship. It is Kent's first ever grand prix victory.

After a tentative start to the race by Moto3 standards, the 18 year-old British rider grabbed his chance as the last lap chaos unfolded.

Luis Salom had already crashed his RW Racing Kalex into Jonas Folger's Aspar machine - they had to be separated in the gravel when Salom's apology for collecting the German rider was met with a frosty reception.

Championship leader Sandro Cortese then found himself in exactly the position he needed to seal the title - Salom out and Maverick Vinales in an off-podium position.

Kent then pulled a clean pass on his German team-mate at the end of the back straight and was easily out of trouble when Cortese tangled with Team Italia's Alessandro Tonucci on the exit, who then in-turn glanced a falling Cortese's head.

Cortese recovered from his under-tunnel crash to eventually finish sixth, fuming at Kent for winning on the slow-down lap and cursing and yelling “stupid” in the Red Bull KTM pit garage. Cortese now leads the championship by 56 points.

Kent rose above the blame game and - although concerned to be taking the heat for a crash that was nothing to do with him - was keen to point out that he had said “if I thought I could do it I was going to do it” pre-race, while emphasising “I didn't touch him”.

He is the first Brit to win since Bradley Smith won his final 125cc race in Valencia in 2010.

A relieved Vinales was pleased to avoid trouble and claim second as he revealed in Parc Ferme that his FTR Honda had “no top speed” meaning he found it “difficult to pass”. The Spaniard claims back second in the championship standings from Salom.

Tonucci stayed calm and stayed on his FTR Honda to claim his best ever result, his previous highest placing being tenth, he said that his podium placing achieved from his best qualifying result was “incredible” and promised more good results for the rest of the season.


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Tagged as: Bradley Smith , Valencia , 125 , Danny Webb , Aspar , Danny Kent
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Kent, Moto3 race, Japanese MotoGP 2012

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M1M - Unregistered

October 14, 2012 5:22 AM

It's a shame that Kent felt 'worried' about Cortese's completely unjustified behaviour. His response should've been "Cortese? F**k him." It wasn't his fault so he should've had no cause to worry about it. Cortese wouldn't have had a moment's hesitation in taking him out or felt the need to apologise for it afterwards as he's already shown. I hope that this win can help inspire Kent to more wins and podiums in future.


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