Moto3 Phillip Island: Great battle, Rins wins over Vinales and Salom

The Moto3 race was beautiful and hard-fought at Phillip Island, the scene of the Tissot Australian Grand Prix, third to last stage of the 2013 world championship. Alex Rins, rider of Team Estrella Galicia 23, won it after 0,0 laps at the limit. The KTM rider thus achieves his sixth victory of the season after those obtained in Austin, Sachsenring, Indianapolis, Misano and Aragon.

On the podium with him are his compatriots Maverick Vinales and Luis Salom, still the world championship leader, but with only 5 points ahead of Rins (Vinales is instead 22 points behind). Niccolò Antonelli also had a good race, despite finishing eighth he was in contention for the victory until a few laps from the end. However, Romano Fenati's race was dull, as he finished fourteenth. However, Ana Carrasco did not score points, as after a sprint start she finished the race in nineteenth position.

Race report

Fifteenth race of the 2013 season for the Moto3 class (sixteenth overall, Moto3, like Moto2, did not race at Laguna Seca), a class which sees Luis Salom, rider of the Red Bull KTM Ajo Team, at the top of the world championship standings. In pole position at Phillip Island, theater of the Tissot Australian Grand Prix, we find the Spanish rider of Team Red Bull KTM Ajo, who was the author of the fastest lap with a time of 1:36.890.

The Kalex KTM of German Jonas Folger (Team Aspar) and the Mahindra of Efren Vazquez, author of the third time (1'37.292), will start on the front row with him. Second row for the KTM of Team Calvo of Maverick Vinales, for that of Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 of Alex Rins and for the FTR Honda of Isaac Vinales, Maverick's cousin.

In the third row we find the amazing Ana Carrasco, author of excellent qualifications, which place her just 654 thousandths from pole. We remember that the representative of the fairer sex had obtained her first world championship point last Sunday in Sepang. With her the Mahindra of Miguel Oliveira and the KTM of the Malaysian Zulfahmi Khairuddin.

The Italians are bad. Niccolò Antonelli (FTR Honda of Team Gresini) in fact finished with the twelfth time, while Romano Fenati (FTR Honda San Carlo Team Italia) was seventeenth. The others are further back; Francesco Bagnaia is twenty-second and Lorenzo Baldassarri twenty-eighth. Matteo Ferrari twenty-fourth on the grid will not race due to a fall during the Warm Up. For him a problem with his right hand. Alessandro Tonucci is also missing, having injured his wrist in Sepang.

Everything is ready for the race, 25 degrees in the air, 27 on the asphalt, 23 laps to go for 102.304 km. The traffic lights go out, the fastest at the start is poleman Luis Salom, who started ahead of Folger, Rins, Maverick Vinales and Ana Carrasco, who gained two positions compared to the starting position. At the hairpin, Oliveira comes along, the Portuguese Mahindra driver is unable to detach at the right point and falls disastrously. He still manages to get back on the track, but only after the whole group has passed.

The first lap ends with Salom ahead of Rins, followed by Maverick Vinales, Jonas Folger, Ana Carrasco, Jack Miller and Isaac Vinales. At the front they exchange positions, with Maverick Vinales taking the lead.

Our Niccolò Antonelli started off strong and was seventh on the second lap and attacked Ana Carrasco, moving up to sixth position. The Team Gresini rider does not seem to suffer from the fall that occurred this morning in the Warm Up.

The first group is made up of eight riders, in order Folger (who took the lead), Maverick Vinales, Rins, Marquez, Salom, Miller, Antonelli and Vazquez. Romano Fenati with the FTR Honda of San Carlo Team Italia is fourteenth, while Lorenzo Baldassarri and Francesco Bagnaia are in twenty-seventh and thirty-first position respectively.
Once halfway through the race, a few drops of rain begin to fall.

At the moment the riders don't seem to slow down and in fact one of the fastest is our own Antonelli, seventh. It's always a battle up front between Folger, Rins, Marquez and Maverick Vinales. Ana Carrasco has meanwhile lost a few positions (she is now sixteenth), while she catches up with Fenati, tenth and fighting with a small group of eight riders.

Five laps to go, in the top seven positions there are four KTMs (those of Maverick Vinales, Alex Marquez, Alex Rins and Luis Salom), a Kalex KTM (that of Jonas Folger) and two FTR Hondas (one of the home rider Jack Miller and the other by our Niccolò Antonelli).
The Team Gresini rider had a good race, now fifth and able to challenge for the victory. The attack on Maverick Vinales arrives, he passes him, but on the straight the FTR Honda goes significantly slower than the KTM; a big problem in view of the final sprint.

Last km of the race, the group is always compact and the first seven are enclosed within the space of just six tenths. Efren Vazquez, who is eighth, also tries to catch up. The last lap begins, Maverick Vinales crosses the finish line first, but when braking the riders fan out and Folger is in command. Rins attacks, followed by Vinales, while Salom harshly attacks Folger who has to pick up the bike, losing precious time. Final corners, Rins wins ahead of Vinales and Salom. Antonelli instead finishes in eighth position.