Moto3: Ramirez wins opening Silverstone stunner

Leopard Racing’s Marcos Ramirez has taken his second victory of the year in a dramatic opening Moto3 race at Silverstone.

With just 1.921 seconds covering the top 11 riders, the Spaniard was locked in a race long battle with Tony Arbolino and Lorenzo Dalla Porta for the win, with the pair crossing the line in second and third respectively.

Rounding out the lead group was Jaume Masia, after the Bester Capital Dubai rider went wide at turn three with six rotations remaining.  

Britain’s John McPhee also looked poised for a podium, lying in the top three for a large portion of the race. However, a last-ditch lunge with less than two laps left to run sent the Petronas Sprinta rider wide, eventually finishing the race in seventh position.

With riders barrelling into braking zones sometimes six bikes abreast, following Dalla Porta across the line was the SIC 58 Squadra Corse duo of Niccolo Antonelli and Tatsuki Suzuki, with Ayumu Sasaki leading teammate McPhee to the chequered flag.

The result allowed Dalla Porta to increase his lead in the championship standings from one to 14 points, with the pursuing Aron Canet crashing out of the race in an incident with Albert Arenas, before rejoining to finish in thirteenth position and bag some valuable points.

Arenas retired from the race, with the only other rider to do so being VNE Snipers’ Romano Fenati. Race winner at the last round in Austria, the Italian fell at turn 14 with just six laps to go. 

Full classification:

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Arbolino takes pole position at Silverstone

Tony Arbolino has taken pole position for the Moto3 race at the British GP with a fastest lap of 2’11.631, beating his own lap record set in this morning’s FP3 session.

Dalla Porta will start from second place on the grid, just 0.079 seconds slower and Fernandez, who had to come through Q1, rounds out the front row.

Britain’s John McPhee will start from the second row of the grid having qualified 6^th, behind Sasaki (4^th) and Antonelli (5^th).

Tomorrow’s race looks like it will be close, with the top 12 riders separated by just over a second.

Full classification:

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Arbolino tops Silverstone FP3

Tony Arbolino has topped the timing sheets during Moto3 FP3 at Silverstone, setting a new lap record of 2’11.844.

The VNE Snipers rider was followed across the line by teammate Romano Fenati, who set a time of 2’12.031 in the dying stages of the session, taking the chequered flag ahead of Leopard Racing’s Marcos Ramirez.

Finishing 0.250 seconds down on the fastest time, just 0.006 seconds behind him came SIC58 Squadra Corse’s Niccolò Antonelli, who set his best time on his ninth lap of the session.

Fastest Brit was Petronas Sprinta Racing’s John McPhee, who held third in the standings until the dying seconds. Setting a time of 2’12.136, he sits ahead of Aron Canet, Lorenzo Dalla Porta, Tatsuki Suzuki and Sergio Garcia, with Andrea Migno rounding out the top 10.

Fellow British rider Tom Booth-Amos finished the session in 17th, 1.289 seconds down on the fastest time. British Motostar championship leader and Silverstone wildcard, Brandon Paasch, ended up in 30th place.

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Moto3: Arenas heads FP2

Albert Arenas has claimed top spot in FP2 at Silverstone ahead of the British GP, ahead of Lorenzo Dalla Porta and Darryn Binder. This morning’s fastest rider, Tony Arbolino is demoted to 4th.

Brit rider John McPhee improved to 13th place, while Tom Booth-Amos was 23rd.

Full classification:

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Moto3: Tony Arbolino fastest in FP1

Tony Arbolino topped the timesheet at the end of FP1, setting a new lap record onboard his VNE Snipers Honda. Second fastest Kaito Toba was 0.674 seconds off the pace, with Lorenzo Dalla Porta rounding out the top three.

Britain’s Tom Booth-Amos finished 18th fastest with John McPhee only managing 25th.

Full classification: