Joan Mir takes second ever Moto3 win at Qatar
Leopard Racing’s Joan Mir has started his 2017 season in the best possible way, after winning the Moto3 race at the Qatar Grand Prix.
2016 Austrian Grand Prix winner Mir ended up on top after a hard-fought race, which saw the Spaniard fight off many potential championship contenders. Twelve riders managed to join the leading group at one stage, something typical of Moto3.
John McPhee was one of the riders able to get up and fight at the front. The Scot, back on a Honda for the first time since 2014 with the newly former British Talent team, was battling for the lead with the returning Romano Fenati, Andrea Migno and pole man Jorge Martin.
Phillip Oettl and Juanfran Guevara were also part of the leading group, however, the two collided late on at Turn 6 and joined Albert Arenas on the sidelines.
Mir was able to then take the win, with McPhee and Martin coming home in second and third. McPhee impressed very much on his new machinery and put himself in contention to be a legitimate championship contender.
Aron Canet was the first rider outside the podium in fourth, whilst Fenati was fifth. Behind them was Migno, Nicolo Antonelli and Fabio Di Giannantonio, who finish sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
Platinum Bay Real Estate’s Marcos Ramirez, on his first ride on the KTM, and SIC Racing’s Adam Norrodin were the final two riders inside the top ten, with rookie team-mate Ayumu Sasaki close behind.
It was a disappointing race for the Italian pairing of Nicolo Bulega and Enea Bastianini. The pair never looked like challenging the leading group throughout the race and finished in a lowly fourteenth and sixteenth place respectively.
As always, Moto3 puts on a show. We’ll see the riders back in action in two weeks time, as the paddock heads for Argentina and the Termas de Río Hondo circuit.