Kent consolidates position as title favourite

Danny Kent’s win on Sunday in America elevated the Englishman to the head of the Moto3 world championship and consolidated his position as a championship challenger in the class. Having been fast throughout the winter in testing and finishing on the podium in Qatar it’s clear that Kent should be fast throughout the season and Sunday’s win looks set to be a regular occurrence.

The sheer scale of Kent’s domination of the race is impossible to underestimate. To open a gap of ten seconds in a dry Moto3 race is unheard of and the ease with which he did it showed how strong he is riding at the moment. Having qualified on pole and having the presence of mind to fall back to fifth on the opening lap and allow other riders to test the trecherous track conditions was a very mature and confident decision.

With wet patches Kent wanted to allow his rivals to test the levels of grip available but once he was confident on the bike and aware of the conditions he started to pick off rivals and move to the front. Once he hit the front he immediately opened a gap of half a second, out of reach of the slipstream on the long back straight, and started to pull away from the pack at a rate of one second a lap.

Asked about what has been the biggest factor in improving his fortunes Kent commented that maximising all elements of the package was key. That included the work that team have done with the bike but having spent the winter training hard and losing two kilos Kent looks like a different rider to 12 months ago and has the air of confidence that you expect from a front runner.

“The Honda is a very good bike and it suits me,” said Kent after the race. “But it’s not just the bike it’s the whole package; I spent a long time over the winter working on my fitness and I lost a couple of kilos. It’s been a good pre-season and we’ve started the year strong. I worked hard in pre-season and I’m strong mentally and physically.”