Moto3 Silverstone: Ramirez battles through the pack for victory
Marcos Ramirez sat in the large lead group and then made his move to the front in the closing stages of the Moto3 British Grand Prix to claim a last lap victory at Silverstone.
The Leopard Racing rider had only managed a best of ninth in qualifying but it was enough to find himself in thethe mix at the front when the pack eventually splintered, with nine riders making the break.
His second win of the season came when he muscled his way into the top three in the closing stages, pulling ahead in the final corners to lead over the line.
Polesitter Tony Arbolino spent much of his race trading the number one spot with the other Leopard bike, piloted by Lorenzo Dalla Porta, and got ahead of his compatriot one final time in the last sector of the track on the final lap to claim second on the all Honda podium.
Third went to Dalla Porta, who extends his title lead to fourteen points after Aron Canet was cleaned out by Albert Arenas as his already sliding bike clattered into the Spaniard. He was swift in recovering his Sterilgarda Max Racing Team machine and worked hard for a points finish in 13th.
Back at the front of the race Niccolo Antonelli won the battle of the SIC58 Squadra Corse teammates for fourth just ahead of Tatsuki Suzuki in fifth, who set the fastest lap of the race as he battled run with the leaders.
Ayumu Sasaki finished sixth just ahead of fellow Petronas Sprinta Racing rider John McPhee, who was also in the mix for victory but had to settle for seventh while managing his soft tyre gamble, only moving out of contention after running wide as the race wound down at his home grand prix.
Dennis Foggia staged an incredible recovery from his 20th place qualifying, running as high as fourth for Sky Racing Team VR46 on his way to an eighth place finish, and was also the top KTM rider.
The battle to be top rookie raged all the way to the line at the back of the lead group, with Foggia’s Teammate Celestino Vietti taking the honour, just ahead of Ai Ogura (Honda Team Asia) who lead the race briefly on his way to tenth.
Running on near the penalty loop lead to Jaume Masia’s eleventh place finish for Bester Capital Dubai, while Darryn Binder set a flurry of fast laps to claim twelfth at the chequered flag for CIP Green Power.
The other points finishers were and Jeremy Alcoba, replacing Gabriel Rodrigo at Gresini in 14th and Alonso Lopez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) in 15th.
Raul Fernandez (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) had earned a front row start but faded badly for 18th at the finish line.
Tom Booth-Amos (CIP Green Power) had issues in qualifying, but pulled back a few positions in the race for 25th.
Max Kofler (Sama Qatar Angel Nieto Team) was the better of the two wildcard entries in 28th despite a late tumble on the final lap, he recovered quickly enough to place ahead of Brandon Paasch (FPW Racing KTM) who was 29th.
Joining Arenas out of the race was Romano Fenati, who crashed out around the halfway mark.
