It's time to go racing at "The Brickyard"... Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Moto 3 is the first race of the day. It will be immediately followed by Moto 2, and MotoGP. So, prepare for a triple whammy of motorcycle racing action here, on 2 Wheelin'.
This should be a great set of races. Fox Sports hosts Bob Varsha, Ralph Sheheen, and Scott Russell will call the action on Fox Sports. Wayne Gardner, Mick Doohan, and Casey Stoner, have all been championship winners in MotoGP, from Australia. Jack Miller, could be the next world champion. We've also got Alex Marquez and Romano Fenati in contenion. This is the seventh MotoGP race at Indy. But the track is reconfigured and repaved. The bikes will run counterclockwise, the same as the Indycars in the Indy 500. There's a new section that flows a lot better than it used to.
Give yourself a good shot through these corners, and be patient, waiting for the bike to turn. Turns 15 and 16 onto the front straight have been opened up. We're ready to race in Moto 3. Watch Ana Carasco on the pink motorcycle. In qualifying, Zulhfammi Khairuddin had a wreck. Romano Fenatti is fourth with Efren Vazquez second. Jack Miller gets his sixth pole in ten races, looking for win number five. Alex Rins starts sixth. Zulhfammi Khairuddin is there. Isaac Vinales has work to do. Let's race.
Watch the lights. 23 laps scheduled. 60 miles. Go! We're underway at Indy. Tipping into turn one, everyone looks clean. Watrch out in the middle of the pack. One rider down already. Who is it? This is on the section that has been changed. Efren Vazquez is second. John McPhee went down on his #17 Honda, as the field races down Hulman Straightaway. Miller earned his sixth pole of 2014. Here's the open section onto the front straight. Alex Marquez goes to second.
He drafts by on the straight starting another lap. Romano Fenati is fourth. In ninth is the new rider for Marc VDS, Jorge Navarro. Miguel Oliviera is 12th. If you break momentum in this class, everyone will pass you. Efren Vazquez passes and here comes Fenati. Three wide. Roll through turn five flat out and here comes Alex Marquez. Jack Miller will increase his lead with these blokes battling each other. Momentum forces a rider to pass another competitor.
McPhee got sandwiched and went down. The gap is growing again between Miller and Fenati. Romano Fenati passes for second. This is a wide track. But the preferred passing zone is down the front straight. Gabriel Ramos crashes. Game over. Jack Miller is going to be chased and Miller is the rider everyone wants to catch. Efren Vazquez had his first front row start since Le Mans in May at the French GP. Four wide and a lead change with Romano Fenati takes the lead and Miller drops to third. Alex Marquez is second.
Alex Marquez and Alex Rins are running at the front, coming to the front. Matteo Ferrari got tossed off his Mahindra bike. Niklas Ajo and Francesco Bagnaia also wrecked. Alex Marquez leads. Alex Rins has come up into the lead pack. There's still a huge, five wide battle here. Stay safe in this chaos. Miller dives inside, sitting in fourth. Miller wants to make sure he can get back to the front. Jorge Navarro is off and on. It's his fourth Moto 3 start. But, Jack Miller is going to lose a place, but gain it back. Miller has a good run going.
Lets hope we see Jack Miller on a big bike soon. He loves to win and he'll be a great MotoGP rider. Alexis Masbou and others are trying to catch the lead pack. Miguel Oliveira is also there. It's a ten bike race. Jakub Kornfeil is also there, on his KTM. There are four Honda's and three KTM's. Romano Fenati still leads. Efren Vazquez and Jack Miller are both pushing. Another rider is in pit lane with problems. Francesco Bagnaia has had to finish his race early. These blokes are trading paint already.
Miller passes down the inside. Miller senses where the passing zones are. Riders will test the run on the final corner, and use the draft as long as possible. How far back in the train can I be, to get to a win? Romano Fenati is pushing hard. Bagnaia and Fenati are on a team run by Valentino Rossi. Lean into turn thirteen and then, pick up the throttle through the last three turns. Watch the draft. Fenati still leads. Alex Marquez and Alex Rins are testing the low line.
Eight laps remain in Moto 3. Ana Carasco has moved from 33rd to 27th. The order is changing with every corner. Alexis Masbou is ahead. But, there's just five laps left. The lead has changed again. Alex Marquez, Alexis Masbou, and eight other riders, have a chance to win this thing. It's Honda vs. KTM. Masbou took the lead running deep into turn one. Don't show your hand just yet. Save a tenth or two. Masbou knows the draft will happen and they're five wide! Wow! Efren Vazquez slingshots into turn one. Every single rider is auditiopning for a Moto 2 ride or a MotoGP ride.
For a fleeting moment, we were six wide on the yard of bricks! Romano Fenati is pushing, anhd he wants to win to gain points. Three laps to go. To the front goes Efren Vazquez. Miller goes inside. It's tight in turns two through four. Miguel Oliviera is pushing his Mahindra to the front. Alex Rins moves up to second place. These bikes are very small in size, and they can go three deep in the corners. We're going to see argy bargy in the last few laps here. Two to go.
Play it cool now. But, not on the last lap. Alex Rins is second. He won from pole here at Indy a year ago. We've got one lap to go this time. Jack Miller is holding fourth by the skin of his teeth. Here we go. Fenati wants to break away. Vazquez goes inside. Miller inside. Wow! Rins falls back. Fenati and Vazquez have gapped everyone. Miller ran too hard into the corner. You can't make those kinds of mistakes on the last lap. It's Vazquez inside, looking for Fenati. Can't do it. Miller is coming.
Miller and Masbou could be in the pound seats for a good finish. Here they come! Vazquez wins his first Moto 3 race of 2014!
#7 Efren Vazquez ESP Honda Barakaldo
Moto 3's next race is next weekend at the Brno circuit in the Czech Republic. Up next, today, it's Moto 2. That too, should be a good race. Stay tuned.
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