Moto3 Phillip Island: Success for Sandro Cortese, Oliveira and Sissis on the podium

Sandro Cortese won the Australian Grand Prix in the Moto3 class. The KTM rider, fresh from the world title, preceded the Suter Honda of the Portuguese Miguel Oliveria at the finish line and his team-mate Arthur Sissis, an Australian KTM rider, on his first podium in the world championship. The best of our team was Romano Fenati, who finished the race in sixth position just ahead of his team-mate Alessandro Tonucci. Of note is the penalty for early departure of Jonas Folger, Luis Salom, Louis Rossi, Alberto Moncayo and Jack Miller. With the double podium, KTM won its first Moto3 constructors' title with 321 points against 295 for FTR Honda. This is the second constructors' title for the Mattighofen manufacturer after the eighth-litre title won in 2005.

Race report

Sixteenth race of the season for the newly formed Moto3 class, a category which from this year replaces the "old" eighth-litre ones. In pole position at Phillip Island, theater of the AirAsia Australian Grand Prix, we find the 2012 world champion Sandro Cortese, official KTM rider of the Red Bull Ajo Team. The Italian-German will be joined on the front row by the German Jonas Folger (riding the Kalex KTM of Team Aspar) and the Spaniard Efren Vazquez, rider of the Team JHK t-shirt Laglisse. The best of the Italians is Alessandro Tonucci, tenth with the FTR Honda of Team Italia FMI. Fourteenth time instead for his teammate Romano Fenati, while Armando Pontone with Ioda is twenty-first. Niccolò Antonelli, Team Gresini rider, fell to the ground at the start of the third free practice session and will not be able to race as he has not received the OK from the doctors. In the fall he suffered a head injury with initial loss of consciousness. Also absent was “Gigio” Morciano (Ioda Racing) who suffered a fracture of the radius of his left arm in a fall during the Aragon tests. Everything is ready, twenty-three laps to go, overcast skies on the Australian circuit. The traffic lights go out, the fastest at the start is Jonas Folger, who however is immediately overtaken by the Malaysian Khairuddin, riding the KTM. Followed by Salom, Cortese, Rossi, Sissis, Vazquez and Kent.

The first lap ends, the Malaysian KTM Khairuddin leads the race ahead of Salom, Folger, Rossi, Cortese, Oliveira, Ajo, Sissis, Maverick Vinales, Vazquez, Tonucci, Rins, Kent and Moncayo. Fenati is 16th and Pontone 21st. Meanwhile, Riccardo Moretti retires with Mahindra. The brawl continues, the second lap ends with Khairuddin still in command and ahead of Folger, Rossi, Salom, Oliveira, Maverick Vinales, Ajo and Tonucci, while Fenati is 14th.

Jump start, five riders jumped the start, in order Rossi, Salom, Moncayo, Folger and Miller. All five will have to return to the pits to serve the penalty. Frenchman Rossi meanwhile goes straight after a very tight braking. The first to return is Salom, who after serving the penalty returns to the track but in 28th position. Folger and Moncayo also return to serve the penalty.

Meanwhile, 2012 world champion Sandro Cortese is in front and has taken the lead, followed by Oliveira, Maverick Vinales, Sissis, Rins, Tonucci, Vazquez, Kent, Fenati and Khairuddin. Tonucci had a great race, battling for third position. However, the two in front (Cortese and Oliveira) have taken a slight advantage, in fact at the back they overtake each other several times and play their game.

Halfway through the race there is a great recovery by Romano Fenati, now fighting with the small group fighting for the third step of the podium. The driver from the Marche region is sixth and now also ahead of team-mate Tonucci, who made a mistake that dropped him to ninth position. The first two have an advantage of almost 4 seconds on the small group that is fighting for the third step of the podium, a small group made up of Maverick Vinales, Alex Rins, Romano Fenati, Arthur Sissis, Danny kent, Alessandro Tonucci, Efren Vazquez and Zulfahmi Khairuddin.

Problem for Maverick Vinales, the Spanish rider slips, no physical problem for him but the race was compromised. The fairing of his FTR Honda came off on one side, so the Spaniard was forced to return to the pits, the race over for him. Meanwhile, Cortese and Oliveira are always at loggerheads up front, the gap between the two is less than a tenth. Meanwhile, behind Alessandro Tonucci he is back in the fight for third place on the podium. Meanwhile, a problem for the Malaysian Khairuddin, the KTM rider proceeds at a very slow pace, the race was compromised for him.

Final laps of the race, Sandro Cortese and Miguel Oliveira are fighting for the victory, while the fight for third position is reserved for Sissis, Fenati, Kent, Rins, Vazquez and Tonucci. The last lap begins, Cortese has taken a good lead over Oliveira and goes on to win his fifth race of 2012. On the podium the Portuguese Miguel Oliveira and the Australian KTM Arthur Sissis, with Fenati and Tonucci finishing in sixth and seventh position.