Moto3 Emilia Romagna: Fenati takes win in last lap chaos
Romano Fenati took advantage of the last lap tussles ahead of him to fly to the front and win the Moto3 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
Riding for Sterilgarda Max Racing, the only team using a Husqvarna, the emotional Italian claimed his twelfth victory in the class on home soil. Riding a slightly different line to the rest of the pack, the experienced rider was left perfectly placed to take advantage as the rest of the lead group tried out a series of aggressive moves for position on each other.
Fenati just held on in the run to the line, with Celestino Vietti pulling back close behind on his Sky Racing Team VR46 bike, finishing just 0.036s shy of the race win. He had led at the start of the final lap and set the pace for much of the race.
Ai Ogura was in the mix for a win, but also very aware of championship rival Albert Arenas on track. Arenas final challenge for the lead saw him drop to fifth as the pack fought back. Ogura took his chances and finished third. That keeps the Honda Team Asia rider second in the title hunt on 117 points, two points behind leader Arenas.
Arenas persevered to pull back a place and claim fourth for Gaviota Aspar. He passed Leopard’s Jaume Masia after he clashed with Vietti in a frantic final lap.
Polesitter Raul Fernandez had also topped warm-up. Despite clearly being on the pace he could only manage a best of sixth in the competitive run to the line for Red Bull KTM Ajo.
His teammate Deniz Oncu had qualified down in 13th after coming through Q1 but had strong race pace and pulled up to the frontrunners in the closing stages to battle to seventh - his best finish to date.
Eighth went to Andrea Migno on the second Sky entry, he finished just ahead of the second Red Bull bike with Kaito Toba on board.
John McPhee was another rider with a lot to do on race day. The Petronas Sprinta rider had qualified 20th, but worked his way up to tenth to mix it in the lead group by the end, a late tussle with Jeremy Alcoba seeing him drop positions on the penultimate lap.
Rookie Alcoba crossed the line eleventh but was handed a three second penalty for exceeding track limits after the race, demoting him to 13th for Kommerling Gresini. He will also have his weaving move on Darryn Binder reviewed after the race.
That elevated his teammate Gabriel Rodrigo to twelfth, with Tony Arbolino up to eleventh - the Rivacold Snipers rider had been in the mix early in the race before fading.
The remaining points went to Ayumu Sasaki (Red Bull KTM Tech 3) in 14th and Stefano Nepa (Gaviota Aspar) in 15th.
Sergio Garcia had two long lap penalties, the first as punishment for the crash he was involved in last weekend, the second was for exceeding track limits. The Estrella Galicia rider finished 17th.
Carlos Tatay and Davide Pizzoli saw their chance of points go straight away - they were handed a double long lap penalty for jumping the start.
Alonso Lopez fell as he took his long lap penalty with fifteen laps remaining. One lap later Dennis Foggia left the race, pushed wide after being clipped slightly by Alcoba.
Binder was the final faller - Arenas sat up in front of him after a wobble, which caused the South African to do the same, resulting in his crash at turn one with just five laps remaining.
Tatsuki Suzuki was declared unfit for the race after his qualifying crash left him with a left wrist fracture.
