It is surely raining before the start of the lightweight class race for Moto3 at the Brno Autodrom in the Czech Republic. This is round eleven of the Moto3 World Championship. It is warm. 17 degrees Celsius (62 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature, and 18 degrees Celsius (64 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature. But, there's lots of spray and standing water on the track as we speak. The wind is up, too. Brad Binder has a 67 point lead in the championship, and left it to the last minute to snatch his third pole of 2016 and the third of his career. Some penalties were also assessed. Five riders "toured" around the speedway in qualifying. You can do multiple sighting laps when pit lane is open.
Andrea Migno was supposed to be second on the grid, but no. Scotland's John McPhee on the Peugeot bike was quickest in the warmup. Khairul Idham Pawi, and also, Aron Canet, were fast in the warmup. Brad Binder's 67 point cushion is indeed still over Jorge Navarro in the championship. Binder has a big lead, and does not want to take risks. Enea Bastianini has inherited second spot. Andrea Migno, Niccolo Antonelli, Fabio Quartararo, and Albert Arenas, are four of the five riders who have picked up penalties. There is a fifth rider on that list, who yours truly isn't sure of, just as the commentators Steve Day and Matt Birt aren't sure either. Ah. Phillip Oettl was the fifth penalized rider. That takes care of that list.
Bastianini is riding with a modified glove, as he had a wreck in turn five here at Brno in which he suffered a hairline fracture in his ring finger on his left hand. Bastianini is not necessarily a wet weather racer, but did get a podium at the Sachsenring in Germany, also in the wet. Jorge Martin is third. Fabio Di Giantonio is fourth. Five successive top ten finishes for Di Giantonio. Andrea Migno completes the top five. Migno was caught out riding too slowly in practice or qualifying. In sixth is Migno's team mate for Sky Racing VR46, Niccolo Bulega. Spaniard Aron Canet rolls off seventh. In eighth spot, in his home race, is Czech rider Jakub Kornfeil.
"The Flying Scotsman", John McPhee, topped the morning warmup, and he rolls off ninth on the grid. Five minutes to the start as the BMW M2 safety car moves away. Jorge Navarro is 11th. We have had constant rain all morning, and it varies between light and heavy levels. Niccolo Antonelli completes the top ten. Antonelli is rumored to be racing with a different team in Moto3 in 2017. Antonelli won this race from pole, in 2015. We look across the front row. Martin, Bastianini, Binder. That's your front row as we get ready to race.
19 laps scheduled for this race. Karel Hanika, who used to race Moto3 full time, from the Czech Republic, is a wildcard rider here. 33 bikes start this race. Spray everywhere on the warmup lap. Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia, returns to race with Sky VR46 in 2017, but in Moto2. As we get set to race the air and track temperatures are identical. 17 degrees Celsius (62 degrees Fahrenheit), air temperature. 17 degrees Celsius (62 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature. The wind speed is three miles an hour out of the west. Will Brad Binder build on his points lead, and throw caution to the wind? Or, will he defend it? Jorge Navarro is the nearest contender for Binder in the championship chase.
Lorenzo Dalla Porta will replace Romano Fenati at Sky VR46 in Moto3 from Silverstone onwards, after Fenati was sacked for disciplinary reasons. We have a glance at the current points situation. Brad Binder leads Jorge Navarro, by a country mile, (67 points), 179-112. The absent Romano Fenati, has lost his championship hopes, 86 points adrift on 93 points overall. Fourth is Pecco Bagnaia, on 90 points, 89 markers out of the lead. Valentino Rossi, trying to keep warm in this rain, looks on at his riders. We prepare for a start. Take a deep breath. Get your nerves together. 19 laps of racing Moto3 style, is about to commence here at Brno.
Red lights on. Red lights, out! Away we go! Bastianini has a wobble off the line, as Brad Binder gets a good start and so does Fabio Di Giantonio. Andrea Migno also moves up. Binder has the hole shot into turn one. Jakub Kornfeil also had a good start and now runs in fifth spot. Jorge Martin moves past Enea Bastianini for second. Pecco Bagnaia battles with Niccolo Antonelli, but he is about to be overtaken by John McPhee. Bagnaia has his hands full as Jorge Martin is eking out a bit of a lead at the moment. Jorge Martin has a 7/10ths of a second lead at this moment. Martin twitches his bike into turn 11.
They run up horsepower hill for the first time. Last week's winner in Austria, Joan Mir, is in the picture, inside the top ten. Enea Bastianini is feeling the heat from local sensation, Jakub Kornfeil. He's the one who the Czech fans are rooting for. Kornfeil passes Bastianini into turn one. Khairul Idham Pawi is moving through the field steadily. He's cut the field in half, having started 28th, and is now up to 13th. Brad Binder's Red Bull KTM Ajo team mate, Bo Bendsneyder is also making progress. The Dutchman has gained eleven spots. He's come from 24th to 13th. John McPhee passes Binder for fifth.
Khairul Idham Pawi has passed Bendsneyder and now sets his sights on Niccolo Antonelli. Andrea Locatelli rode to a second place finish two races ago at the Sachsenring in Germany, in the wet. But here, Locatelli is only 24th. Pawi had a fall in the morning warmup, having wrecked along with Gabriel Rodrigo. Aron Canet makes a move on Jakub Kornfeil. Brad Binder is making a pass on Fabio Di Giantonio. John McPhee has made a pass on Enea Bastianini as well. Canet has set the fastest lap of the race so far at 2:24.649. Canet is half a second faster than race leader, Jorge Martin. Phillipp Oettl and Livio Loi, are down towards the bottom end of the top 20, and they are good riders in the wet. Maybe they can make headway as this race goes on.
Livio Loi won the wet Moto3 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2015. Khairul Idham Pawi has moved to 11th, passing Niccolo Antonelli, and is looking to pass Joan Mir. Canet almost loses the motorcycle, and he still puts in fastest lap of the race! Wow! Canet wanted to make a move on Kornfeil in turn nine. No dice. Kornfeil runs wide! Canet will pass him! Poor old Jakub Kornfeil is bound to lose four to five places with that false move as Jorge Martin continues to lead. Jorge Martin won in the Red Bull Rookies Cup here at Brno a few years back. So, he knows this track well. Brad Binder sweeps around John McPhee for third.
He is on a charge, as Jorge Martin continues to lead this race. But, not for long. Brad Binder has now taken the lead, and simultaneously, sets the fastest lap of the race, lowering it to 2:23.594. Check that. Binder moves past Aron Canet for second. John McPhee also makes a move on Aron Canet. Jakub Kornfeil makes a move on Fabio Di Giantonio for fifth. Dear me. Fabio Quartararo is way down in 31st. Adam Norrodin is not having a good race either. Khairul Idham Pawi passes Joan Mir, and is now seventh. He ran a 2:24.5 lap time. Jorge Martin continues to lead. Martin wants to bring Mahindra their second win. Pecco Bagnaia won for Mahindra at Assen.
We're only on lap three, and the championship points already get a major shakeup. Brad Binder is a country mile ahead of everyone else. He is on 199 points, 84 points ahead of his nearest rival, Jorge Navarro who is on 115. Francesco "Pecco" Bagnaia is 103 behind on 96, and Romano Fenati, who was sacked by the VR46 squad, is 106 out of the lead on 93 markers. We have yellow flags appearing on the track. Someone has fallen, as a new fast lap is set by Binder at 2:22.938. Gabriel Rodrigo has fallen, again. He's wrecked at turn 14. Binder is closing up on Martin, but cannot dispense with McPhee and Canet. Niccolo Bulega is up to tenth behind Joan Mir. Binder, McPhee, and Canet, are closing up on Jorge Martin.
Khairul Idham Pawi is fifth, and he too, is coming in a hurry. Binder is making an inside move on Jorge Martin for the lead. He can't quite make it. Binder makes a pass for the lead as Khairul Idham Pawi now resets fastest lap. 2:22.563. John McPhee is also trying to make a move on Jorge Martin. McPhee makes the pass, and is going for Binder in the lead. Andrea Migno is having a much better ride here at Brno than he did in the wet at the Sachsenring in Germany a while back. Niccolo Bulega and Jorge Navarro are also catching up, and running quicker than the top four. The rain is getting worse.
Khairul Idham Pawi, if he wants to stay in contention, he'll have to be patient. Fabio Di Giannantonio resets the fastest lap benchmark, cutting a 2:22.211. Pawi pushes the front end of his bike. The lead four will soon experience Pawi power. Pawi has a lot left in the locker in these conditions. Niccolo Bulega has gotten around his team mate Andrea Migno for eighth place. Bulega, Navarro, and Joan Mir have all passed Andrea Migno. Riders down the field are whacking their heads against a brick wall. Livio Loi and Phillip Oettl are two of those riders, as is Adam Norrodin. Canet tries passing Martin and can't do it. Martin is very good under braking into turn ten. Pawi and Di Gianntonio have not made inroads on McPhee and Binder. Binder does not want to be a guinea pig.
Well, maybe he does. But, John McPhee is cooking right now, and has cut the fastest lap. 2:22.178 for McPhee! Oh dear! Aron Canet has fallen down! His bike is busted. It's game over for the Spaniard. Binder and McPhee are two seconds clear of Jorge Martin, and in a race of their own. Binder in the lead, is trying to force McPhee into a mistake. Here are the top fifteen... the points scoring riders.
1. Brad Binder
2. John McPhee
3. Jorge Martin
4. Khairul Idham Pawi
5. Fabio Di Gianantonio
6. Jakub Kornfeil
7. Jorge Navarro
8. Niccolo Bulega
9. Joan Mir
10. Andrea Migno
11. Niccolo Antonelli
12. Enea Bastianini
13. Bo Bendsneyder
14. Francesco Bagnaia
15. Jules Danilo
Pawi makes the move on Jorge Martin. We are halfway through this race essentially. McPhee is right on Binder's rear wheel. Binder is a little loose. It's pouring rain here in the Czech Republic. Kornfeil is being reeled in by a bunch of riders. Fabio Di Gianantonio is in a battle with Khairul Idham Pawi. Adam Norrodin has crashed out at Kevin Schwantz corner. Binder has now cut a new fast lap at 2:21.977. Jorge Navarro is followed by Austria winner Joan Mir and Niccolo Bulega. Lots of other riders are really trying to make moves here. Bo Bendsneyder wants points after being 25th on the grid.
Binder leads by 7/10ths of a second, and is eking out a gap, and looking to pull the pin. Jakub Kornfeil appears to have issues with his helmet visor steaming up. Binder lowers fast lap to 2:21.567. Has this broken the will of John McPhee? Eight laps to go. This podium for John McPhee would be amazing, for himself and for the Peugeot Saxoprint team. Joan Mir is seventh having passed Jorge Navarro and Niccolo Bulega. McPhee has a cushion over Khairul Idham Pawi as Jorge Martin is under pressure from Fabio Di Gianantonio. Brad Binder has won three races this year, but has not won since Mugello in May.
Khairul Idham Pawi is in a solid but lonely third as he's broken away from Jorge Martin in fourth. Another rider has crashed. It's Albert Arenas on the sister Saxoprint Peugeot motorcycle. Pecco Bagnaia also wrecked out of 14th spot. It looks like Albert Arenas has injured his collarbone. Not good. Francesco Bagnaia has indeed crashed out as well. Two high side wrecks in quick succession. Game over for Aspar Mahindra, well, at least one of their bikes. At this time, the points standings appear as follows. Brad Binder leads with 204 points, increasing his lead over Jorge Navarro to 83, as Navarro is second on 121 points. The absent Romano Fenati remains third on 93 points, 111 behind. Francesco Bagnaia (who has just crashed), he would be fourth, 114 points in-arrears, on 90 markers.
Jakub Kornfeil is still riding well. But, Jorge Navarro doesn't seem to think so and takes his position away. Kornfeil is under pressure from Joan Mir. Pawi is running a lonely race, but should wind up third. Jules Danilo is in the points and so is Japan's Tatsuki Suzuki, running ahead of Italian Andrea Locatelli. Mir tries the inside on Kornfeil. No dice. Niccolo Antonelli sees an open door and walks right through it. Enea Bastianini is coming back into contention as well. Oh dear! Binder has gone down! The championship leader had to be cautious. He'll keep going, but he's thrown away an opportunity to extend the championship lead. Scotsman John McPhee could very well take his first ever Moto3 win. Binder lost the rear end and it washed away, flicking him off the bike, and his mistake bit him hard.
Hero or zero? It's zero, for Binder today. Binder is well in charge of the championship. The points change now. With Binder's DNF, he only has a 58 point gap over Navarro. 179-121. Those are the only two places that truly matter right now. John McPhee is 6.4 seconds ahead of Khairul Idham Pawi, who has also crashed! Jorge Martin and Fabio Di Gianantonio. Darryn Binder has also wrecked. A major high side for Khairul Idham Pawi, and he takes a lick from his bike, too, as they both go in the same direction. Ouch! Yours truly wouldn't be surprised if McPhee is given a warning on his pit board, to slow down.
Italy's Stefano Valtulini has also wrecked. Meanwhile, John McPhee will never have a better time than now, to win a Moto3 race. McPhee leads by 8.7 seconds. McPhee was quickest in morning warmup for this race. This will be the longest four laps of the lives of the family and friends of John McPhee in Scotland, to see if their man can pull off the W here in Moto3 in the Czech Republic. Jorge Martin seems to be secure for a second place finish. McPhee is two seconds faster than Martin and ten seconds clear of him on the road. Fabio Di Giantonio is still fighting hard for second spot. McPhee is massively out of the seat! Oh my word! How did he stay on the motorcycle?! Oh man! The bike snapped sideways and nearly chucked him off!
How he stayed on that Peugeot motorcycle, God only knows. Andrea Locatelli has crashed out. Jorge Martin will have his best result of the year. There's a major battle for fifth. Kornfeil, Mir, Antonelli, and Navarro. Check that. Antonelli is ahead of Mir. One lap remains in the Czech Republic for Moto3. 5.4 kilometers stand between McPhee and a first Moto3 and motorcycle Grand Prix victory. He could be the sixth first time winner in 2016. Last lap. One podium for McPhee. Indianapolis 2015 in the wet. Binder, Navarro, Bagnaia, Mir, and Pawi, are first time winners. John McPhee will likely be added to the list. A lap of Brno will feel like the old 16 mile Nurburgring. Mahindra/Peugeot will get a 1-2. Be cautious when you roll out of the throttle entirely.
The Flying Scotsman, John McPhee wins at Brno!
#17 John McPhee GBR. Peugeot
Martin, Di Giantonio, Bastianini, Kornfeil, Bendsneyder, Mir, Bulega, and Navarro, complete the top ten. It is McPhee's 76th start. He is the first British winner in Moto3 since Danny Kent won his home race at Silverstone in 2015. Irony strikes, because the next Moto3 race is at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone in the English midlands. Stay tuned for a report on that one, coming soon. One more factoid. McPhee, is the first Scottish rider to win in MotoGP in over 50 years. 54 to be exact. The last time a Scotsman won, was Bob McIntyre in the 250cc race at the 1962 Belgian Grand Prix.
We'll see you at Silverstone, ladies and gentlemen. So long, for now.
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