By the end of this Moto3 race at the Sachsenring in Germany, we will be halfway through the 2016 MotoGP campaign. It's gloomy, and plenty rainy here in Saxony as we are nearly set to get the junior race, the entry level category, of world Grand Prix motorcycle racing, set for a start in their featured race. Current conditions are an air temperature of 17 degrees Celsius (62 degrees Fahrenheit), and a track temperature of 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit). Moto3 riders are making their way through a river, here on track at the moment. It's a real gully washer in Deutschland as the bikes go out on their warmup laps. Thousands of fans are here to watch the races. We witnessed a spectacle in Holland, and could see the same here at the Sachsenring.
The Moto3 warmup was also run in full wet conditions. Khairul Idham Pawi, has been the man to beat. He was quickest in warmup. Enea Bastianini has pole. In the first half of the season, there were six different winners in eight races. This is the same level of rain we saw in the Assen MotoGP race. John McPhee and Alexis Masbou have already done a few sighting laps. So, Bastianini is the pole man. Andrea Locatelli has a career best start in second. He is on the front row for the first time in over a year, on the Leopard (Leo-Pard) Racing bike. Eight riders in the top ten, scored a season best qualifying effort.
Aron Canet equals his best qualifying run of 2016, rolling off third. Bo Bendsneyder has a career best qualifying performance, and the Dutchman rolls off fourth. This is the best qualifying showing for a Dutch rider, since 2002, when MotoGP first started, and Jurgen van der Gorberg qualified fourth for the Phillip Island, Australia MotoGp race that year. Jorge Navarro is fifth, getting advice from Emilio Alzamora, a former rider. Brad Binder rolls off sixth, and he has a 48 point lead on Jorge Navarro in the championship. We look down the grid. Khairul Idham Pawi was the fastest man in morning warmup. In seventh spot, will be Jules Danilo. John McPhee is in the middle of row three.
This is McPhee's best qualifying performance of 2016, likewise, for the Saxoprint Peugeot team. Japan's Hiroki Ono qualified ninth. Ono missed the Dutch TT. Rounding out the top ten, is Spaniard Jorge Martin. Eleventh on the grid is Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia. He scored Mahindra's first ever win in the Dutch TT last time out. The BMW M2 safety car rolls away, meaning five minutes to the start. Fabio Quartararo is 12th and has not had a good weekend. He slammed his hand, and he also had engine issues. Romano Fenati languishes in 18th. Make that 17th. Juanfran Guevara is 13th.
Canet, Locatelli, Bastianini, on the front row. We're ready to race, lightweight style, here in Germany! 27 laps scheduled. German wildcard Max Kappler will also feature in this race, rolling off 26th. 32 bikes start, and caboose on the field, is Brit Danny Webb, who had an oil leak spoil his qualifying. We are missing a few riders due to injury. Niccolo Antonelli won't start as he has a fractured left collarbone. Maria Herrera has a fractured left wrist. Championship leader Brad Binder, will have to play it cool at first and not get involved in any early shemozzle. Romano Fenati hadn't crashed all year up until Friday here at the Sachsenring, and since then, he crashed three more times.
Weather conditions are still the same as we get set for a start. No change in air or track temperature. It isn't too cold here in Germany despite the rain. Standing water will be a major problem. Anything can happen in motorcycle racing, but it will be a true lottery in the rain. Binder leads the championship by 48 points 151-103 over Jorge Navarro. Romano Fenati is third, 58 points in-arrears on 93. Francesco Bagnaia is fourth, 72 points adrift, on 79 points total. Take a deep breath. We're ready for Moto3 in Germany, in the wet!
Round nine of Moto3 2016. Red lights, on. Red lights, out! Away we go! Enea Bastianini gets a good start and Andrea Locatelli gets bogged down. But it looks like Locatelli is beginning to come back, and also, moving up is Hiroki Ono. Bo Bendsneyder has shot into second already! Aron Canet is up to third as a Leopard KTM went off the road. Ah. Joan Mir has fallen. It's an early bath for the Spaniard. Game over. They reach the bottom of the track in turn eight and will climb back uphill for the second half of the lap. Bastianini, Bendsneyder, and Locatelli are the top three. Khairul Idham Pawi has made it all the way from 20th to eighth.
Jorge Martin passes Aron Canet. John McPhee is up to fourth and wants by Andrea Locatelli, but decides discretion is the better part of valor right now. Bo Bendsneyder leads his first ever Grand Prix motorcycle race as he gets around Bastianini. Bendsneyder has clear track ahead and perfect visibility. Pawi passes Canet for sixth. Romano Fenati languishes down in 21st. Locatelli wants to go inside Bastianini. Khairul Idham Pawi is lining up a pass on Jorge Martin. Pawi moves into fifth place. Bastianini has the inside line trying to make a move on Bendsneyder!
He will go for first. Meanwhile, Pawi sets fastest lap of the race so far at 1:45.699. Bastianini goes in the corner a bit hot, and Bendsneyder takes the lead away. Andrea Locatelli and John McPhee are dicing for position, too. Brad Binder is now at the tail end of the top ten, in tenth place. Jakub Kornfeil has made his way to 11th. Jules Danilo is 12th. Francesco Bagnaia is 13th, followed by Fabio Di Giantonio. In the 15th and final points paying place right now is Juanfran Guevara. Locatelli has a peek inside Bendsneyder, but Bendsneyder slams the door in his face. Pawi passes McPhee for fourth.
Through the waterfall, Andrea Locatelli goes for the lead past Bo Bendsneyder, and takes it. Pawi, Bastianini, and McPhee are in their own little skirmish. McPhee takes both Bastianini and Pawi! Wow! Hiroki Ono is on a charge, and Pawi is out on the rumble strips! Be careful out there in no mans land! Locatelli leads McPhee and Ono! This is getting hot and heavy, in the rain, here at the Sachsenring! Bo Bendsneyder drops like a stone, and is now in sixth. John McPhee takes the race lead as we have a new fast lap. Quickest man on track is, Fabio Di Giantonio, with a 1:45.554. McPhee leads on the Peugeot branded Mahindra motorcycle!
Pawi wants to pass Ono, as he does not want to see anyone whistle off into the distance. Ono is third. Bastianini is fifth. Bendsneyder is sixth. Ono picks off Locatelli. Pawi moves to third. Brad Binder is way down in 11th. Pawi passes Ono. He has not led a race since Argentina when he won. Romano Fenati is way down in 20th. He has no visibility. Khairul Idham Pawi now leads. He takes a new fastest lap, too, at 1:44.600. There's a lot more standing water here in Germany than there was in Argentina the last time Pawi won one of these things.
Pawi is fearless in the wet. Pawi has 9/10ths of a second in hand over his team mate, and lowers fastest lap down to a 1:42.544. Pawi is riding right on the ragged edge! Ono is keeping an eye on Pawi. Pawi and Ono are just 3/10ths of a second apart now. Amazing. Team boss for Honda, Tadayuki Okada, a former rider himself, can probably barely watch this! Locatelli goes around McPhee under braking. At the moment, our top riders are:
1. Khairul Idham Pawi
2. Hiroki Ono
3. John McPhee
4. Andrea Locatelli
5. Enea Bastianini
6. Jorge Martin
7. Fabio Di Giantonio
8. Jorge Navarro
9. Jakub Kornfeil
10. Brad Binder
McPhee and Locatelli still go at it for third, and now, Fabio Di Giantonio has made his way to seventh. Romano Fenati's day is going from bad to worse. He's down in 23rd spot. Fenati has been passed by both Livio Loi and Stefano Valtulini. Further back, we watch, and Adam Norrodin is up to 16th. Bo Bendsneyder, meanwhile, has dropped way down to 13th, after leading earlier. "Pecco" Bagnaia has made a move on the Red Bull KTM rider. Locatelli passes John McPhee for third. Enea Bastianini is also coming, too. Andrea Locatelli had his best result in Argentina, finishing fourth. Ono puts in his personal best lap at 1:43.012. Brad Binder and Bo Bendsneyder are way down the order now, in 14th and 15th. Phillip Oettl has also been down the order, in 23rd, ahead of Romano Fenati.
Pawi is pushing, hard. Pawi wobbles again. Ono tries to pass, but no. Pawi has a loose motorcycle. Meanwhile, Lorenzo Petrarca has crashed out of this race. Game over. Oh dear! Ono is off the road! He stays on the bike, but loses loads of time! With that fracas, Ono has gone down to sixth. Darryn Binder has now crashed out of this race. Ono lost eight seconds after that scare of almost falling off the motorcycle. Another wreck. Juanfran Guevara, down and out. Ten laps done. 17 remain. Brad Binder is now in a rhythm. We look at points again. The top four are:
1. Binder 158
2. Navarro 111
3. Fenati 99
4. Bagnaia 83
Adam Norrodin has run an identical lap time to race leader, Pawi. But, Norrodin is 14th at the present time. Brad Binder now runs ahead of Jorge Martin. But, Martin is in trouble! Oh! Martin has gone down! What a shame for rider #88. Game over. Andrea Migno has also crashed. A fraught weekend continues for the Sky VR46 team, here in Germany. Migno had to bail out before the bike got loose and smashed the gravel. Pawi leads, and his team mate Hiroki Ono could come back to fight for a podium spot. Ono is faster than Enea Bastianini, with 16 laps to go. It is still raining, and nothing has changed since the race began.
Oh no! Just as we were singing his praises, Hiroki Ono, has crashed again! Game over for Ono, this time. He goes straight on, through the gravel, and wham! He hits the barrier. Binder passes championship rival Jorge Navarro. Andrea Locatelli runs wide at turn ten. Adam Norrodin has now crashed out. Rain still falls. Pawi, still in the lead, runs wide and fortunately, stays in the saddle! The serious question arises, how much rain can this track at the Sachsenring, take? The gap is closing for second as Enea Bastianini chases Andrea Locatelli. Pawi's lead is now over ten seconds. This is Pawi's race to lose.
Another rider, down and out. Nicolo Bulega falls at turn three. The front end washes away. Another VR46 bike, down. That's Bulega's first in-race crash this year. Pawi is not listening to his crew chief. He's pushing way too hard. Pawi is a true rainmeister. Jorge Navarro is closing up on Brad Binder. Navarro is playing hurt, but he's going to make a move, as he's second right behind Binder in the points, and those two battle on this wet race track, right now. Points as they run sees Binder leading Navarro by 49. With more cold rain, the grip level on the track is getting worse. 11 laps left. Pawi leads Andrea Locatelli by 11.8 seconds. Jorge Navarro has to go wide to avoid running into the back of Brad Binder.
After his crash, Andrea Migno will be fine. Pawi now leads by 12.4 seconds on lap 18. He's still fastest on the track. The rivers of water are getting worse. Andrea Locatelli wants his first ever Moto3 podium. John McPhee has put daylight between himself and Jakub Kornfeil. Binder and Navarro continue to scrap. Andrea Locatelli is riding superbly. Khairul Idham Pawi wobbles, again! He's a freight train! Unreal! Warning. Slow down. No mas. Pawi is on the charge. Navarro still can't find a way around Binder. Will John McPhee go for a podium place? He will, and has nothing to lose.
Seven laps now remain. Pawi is a demon on the brakes. Andrea Locatelli should pick up second. He's faster than Pawi. Bastianini is third. Jorge Navarro makes his move on Brad Binder. Jakub Kornfeil is coming in a hurry. Bo Bendsneyder and Aron Canet have both done personal best lap times. But, they've both had their problems. Romano Fenati is over a minute behind the race leader, way down in 21st. McPhee passes Bastianini, and Bastianini fights back. Kornfeil is also on the move. Binder knows there's no sense in taking risks. He's probably called off the dogs for the moment. Binder has a huge, 7.8 second gap, between himself, and ninth place rider, Jules Danilo. Enea Bastianini has dropped into the 1:44 range, at 1:44.913/
Pawi is faster, though, lapping in the 1:43 bracket. Five laps to go. Bastianini and Kornfeil have set their personal best laps as Locatelli slides. Locatelli wants his first podium. John McPhee has been passed by Fabio Di Giantonio. Pawi may win his second race of the year. The rain has let up and become just a strong drizzle. Jorge Navarro goes around John McPhee. A number of riders are doing very well. Enea Bastianini has broken Jakub Kornfeil. Kornfeil will stay fourth. Two laps remain as Khairul Idham Pawi leads by 14 seconds. Three wide between Jorge Navarro, Fabio Di Giantonio, and John McPhee! Navarro goes outside and passes them both into turn one! Navarro almost loses control of the motorcycle!
Navarro ran a half a second quicker than Pawi. John McPhee looks strong for his best season finish. The Scot is back to fifth. Jakub Kornfeil runs his best lap of the race. But, just a lap remains for Khairul Idham Pawi. He's lapped Fabio Quartararo. Will Pawi push? Andrea Locatelli will have his first podium. McPhee may not be fifth for long. Fabio Di Giantonio will have something to say about that. It's the final lap. Locatelli may have second secured. Pawi will win his second race of the season. This is full wet, and much cooler than in Argentina. If we have more rain races, people will put their house mortgages on Pawi. Khairul Idham Pawi wins in Germany at the Sachsenring, by a country mile!
#89 Khairul Idham Pawi MAL. Honda
The next Moto3 race is in Spielberg, Austria at the Red Bull Ring. Stay tuned as a race report will be coming soon.
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