Here are the highlights of the Moto 3 race from Misano in San Marino.
This is round twelve for Moto 3. It's a battle between Sandro Cortese and Maverick Vinales on the Adriatic coast of Italy. Cortese has a 32 point lead in the championship. Cortese is starting next to Romano Fenati and Niccolo Antonelli. Alex Rins (fifth in the series standings) is farther back on the grid than expected. Adrian Martin will not start this race.
This race will be 23 laps. At the start, Romano Fenati got bogged down with Arthur Sissis getting a great start. Sandro Cortese gets the lead. There has been at least one crash. Not sure who went down. Jonas Folger, Danny Kent, Arthur Sissis and others are up there. But, Maverick Vinales sank like a stone down to 17th place. Luis Salom passes Kent and Sissis. Jonas Folger and Romano Fenati are already competitive. Maverick Vinales has gained two places, right behind Efren Vazquez. Arthur Sissis is up to fifth. But, Jasper Iwema is out as are four other riders.
Brad Binder also passed Maverick Vinales right at the start. Danny Webb was one rider crashing. Sissis battles Niccolo Antonelli. Romano Fenati wants to lead while Luis Salom slides by Jonas Folger. Antonelli sets fast lap early. But, not sure of the time. Jack Miller has crashed out. Alex Marques has gone down. He is getting a start in the international Moto 3 class after running in the Spanish championship for a while. Sandro Cortese has passed Romano Fenati for the lead.
Ricardo Antonelli and Arthur Sissis are both running at a good pace, trying to catch the leaders. Vinales is ahead of Efren Vazquez who runs fast lap at 1:44.275. There is a huge battle through Quercia and some of the other corners on the track, including the fastest corner at Curvone. Miguel Oliveira passes Arthur Sissis. Niccolo Antonelli passes Jonas Folger and he cannot make a move to come back. Maverick Vinales is stretching a gap as Sissis wiggles a bit and gets passed by Alex Rins who is coming from 17th on the grid. Sandro Cortese ran wide into Quercia.
Miguel Oliveira comes into fourth and Vinales is just biding his time. Fenati still leads. There are still fifteen laps left to run. Romano Fenati will have to be careful as Alex Rins is starting to pass other riders. Sandro Cortese passes Luis Salom for second spot. Alex Rins has passed Niccolo Antonelli and Oliviera wants to pass Luis Salom into Quercia. Salom tries to pass, but, Oliviera has third. Oliviera and Rins have very similar liveries, leathers, and numbers. So, it's hard to tell who is who. Cortese and Fenati break away from the field. Rins has passed Miguel Oliviera. Niccolo Antonelli runs behind Maverick Vinales. This race is now half over.
Sandro Cortese passes Romano Fenati and might not bother with passing him back just yet. Cortese can pull off a quick lap time without anyone knowing until it happens. Zulfahmmi Khairuddin, Hector Faubel, and Danny Kent are down the order, outside the top ten. Ditto for Alessandro Tonucci. Vinales might still be in contention. Arthur Sissis is right at the back of the group behind Antonellli. Vinales passed Efren Vazquez. Zulhfammi Khairuddin has languished in the eleventh position for most of the race. But it's going to be Vinales vs. Cortese for the win in this race, more than likely.
However, Fenati still has a lead into the tight corner at Curvone. There's going to be a scrap between six bikes here right now. Another lap completed. Seven are left with Fenati in P1. Cortese can handle finishing second, should Vinales finish behind him. Danny Kent runs his personal best lap, but he's only thirteenth. Cortese passes Rins for second. Fenati's gap increases to a half a second. Rins passes Cortese while Vinales passes Salom. So, Vinales is right behind Cortese. Alex Rins wants to help Cortese who is reeling in Fenati, too.
Danny Kent passes Hector Faubel and is working on Zuhlfammi Khairuddin. Cortese closes on Fenati through Tramanto corner. Vinales runs wide. Four laps to go, which is a long way on this track at Misano Adriatico. Rins is all over Cortese. They've been passing each other back and forth the last few laps. Fenati still leads. He's already won a race at Jerez, looking for his second win of 2012. Now, Cortese goes back by Fenati. Luis Salom also wants it and so does Rins. Fenati got swamped! Just two laps left to run in the Moto 3 race!
Rins wobbles trying to pass Maverick Vinales who blocks. Cortese runs best down the backstretch. Into Curvone, Salom closes on Cortese. Rins tries passing Vinales, but no dice. Luis Salom is right on top of Cortese now. Where will he move? Alex Rins and Romano Fenati battle. Vinales gets second! Can he pass Cortese into Quercia? Fenati passes. But Vinales tries to go through and can't make it. He has to get through turn 14 and pass Cortese. But, Cortese stretches his lead. Cortese will win his third race of 2012. He's got this one in the bag. Alex Rins passes Vinales!
#11 Sandro Cortese GER KTM Ochsenhausen
Just five races to go in the Moto 3 championship, The next one is at Motorland Aragon in Spain, in two weeks.
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