Le Mans MotoGP: Louis Rossi takes first Moto3 win in torrential rain

Frenchman Louis Rossi has taken his first Moto3 win at his home circuit of Le Mans in torrential rain after three other riders crashed out of the lead.

Spaniard Maverick Vinales got a good start from pole, but it was Malaysian rider Zulfahmi Khairuddin who took the lead on the first lap after an excellent start from 10th on the grid.

Khairuddin was unable to hold off Hector Faubel who soon took the lead onboard the Aspar bike.

Although Faubel was unable to pull away from the chasing pack he looked comfortable in the lead despite the difficult conditions, but with just 11 laps to go Faubel crashed out of the lead, quickly followed by third placed Jakub Kornfeil.

This handed the lead to Portugese rider Miguel Oliveira, with Vinales in second ahead of Rossi. Oliveira soon crashed out of the lead, handing first place to Vinales, who crashed out a lap later.

Rossi then found himself at the front, and rode brilliantly to keep the bike upright and take his first GP win in front of his home crowd.

Sandro Cortese looked odds on to extend his lead at the top of the championship in second place, but with three laps to go he crashed. He managed to remount and finish sixth.

Second place went to Faubel’s team-mate Alberto Moncayo with Alex Rins in third.

Both Brits – Danny Kent and Danny Webb – failed to finish the race, both crashing out.

1 25 96 Louis ROSSI FRA Racing Team Germany FTR Honda 122.5 49’12.390
2 20 23 Alberto MONCAYO SPA Bankia Aspar Team Kalex KTM 121.3 +27.348
3 16 42 Alex RINS SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 Suter Honda 121.3 +28.899
4 13 27 Niccolò ANTONELLI ITA San Carlo Gresini Moto3 FTR Honda 121.1 +33.195
5 11 61 Arthur SISSIS AUS Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 121.0 +36.989
6 10 11 Sandro CORTESE GER Red Bull KTM Ajo KTM 120.6 +45.312
7 9 53 Jasper IWEMA NED Moto FGR FGR Honda 120.1 +58.645
8 8 89 Alan TECHER FRA Technomag-CIP-TSR TSR Honda 119.8 +1’05.022
9 7 21 Ivan MORENO SPA Andalucia JHK Laglisse FTR Honda 119.7 +1’09.194
10 6 30 Giulian PEDONE SWI Ambrogio Next Racing Suter Honda 118.2 +1’45.751
11 5 94 Jonas FOLGER GER IodaRacing Project Ioda 116.0 1 Lap
12 4 77 Marcel SCHROTTER GER Mahindra Racing Mahindra 115.1 1 Lap
13 3 86 Kevin HANUS GER Thomas Sabo GP Team Honda 114.0 1 Lap
14 2 19 Alessandro TONUCCI ITA Team Italia FMI FTR Honda 109.6 2 Laps
15 1 31 Niklas AJO FIN TT Motion Events Racing KTM 100.6 4 Laps