2015 Barcelona Moto3 Race: Cool Heads Prevail In Hard-Fought Final Lap

Results and summary of the Moto3 race at Barcelona:

Danny Kent has taken his fourth win of the season, and consolidated his grip on the Moto3 championship, with a smart final lap of race at Barcelona. Kent took the lead of a small group early on the final lap, and ensured he led out of the final corner, clinching victory on the short run to the line.

Kent was part of a larger group which made a break from the start, consisting of the championship leader, his teammates Efren Vazquez and Hiroki Ono, Enea Bastianini, Miguel Oliveira, Niccolo Antonelli, Jorge Navarro, Brad Binder, with Philipp Oettl catching the group later. They quickly opened a gap to the following group, which included Romano Fenati, who started the race third in the championship. 

Knowing that one contender was well behind them, both Kent and Bastianini tried to break away from the group, but the long front straight at Barcelona meant that all the hard work they did round the back of the track was undone as the chasing group slipstreamed their way to the front. With a breakaway out of the question, tactics turned to the final corner. Kent, Bastianini and Antonelli all spent their time leading, checking that they could hold the lead all the way to the line. 

The battle intensified in the final few laps, Efren Vazquez making a charge to salvage the honor of Spain, no Spanish rider having won a Moto3 race yet in 2015. But Vazquez found it hard to withstand the combined Anglo-Italian charge, Bastianini, Antonelli and Kent all trying to control the race, with Oliveira pushing hard to try to build on his success from Mugello.

In a clash with his teammate, Kent got pushed to the back of the group on the penultimate lap, with Vazquez surging to the lead. But his advantage disappeared in the slipstream along the front straight, with Antonelli taking over the lead, and Danny Kent going round the outside at Turn 1 to take 2nd. Three turns later, Kent lined up Antonelli to take the lead, with Bastianini following a corner later. Bastianini pushed to attack Kent into La Caixa, but could not get close enough to make a pass. Kent held Bastianini at bay all the way to the line, taking his fourth win of the season, and extending his lead in the championship to 51 points over the Italian. Vazquez also managed to work his way past Antonelli, taking the final spot on the podium.

Results: