Just like in Qatar two weeks ago, Honda riders locked out the Moto3 podium with a dominant performance from the NSF250RW machines at the Circuit of the Americas in the early hours of the morning Australian time.
Runaway winner Danny Kent (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW) made a steady start because the track was still damp in places, so he didn't want to lead too soon. Once he had worked out the conditions he forged forward and was in a class of his own, increasing his lead till he was more than nine seconds ahead - a rare advantage in Moto3.
‰ÛÏMy plan was to pull away because my pace in practice had been so good." Kent explained. "But I changed my plan on the grid - there were still wet patches out there, so I decided to drop a few places, watch the conditions, then get to the front.
"The next time I looked at my board I had an eight-second lead! It was all about maintaining concentration. Big thanks to my team!"
While Kent continued his glorious progress out front, he left a six-pack of riders fighting for the final podium places. There were several fallers and eventually it was the brilliant 15-year-old Fabio Quartararo (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Honda NSF250RW) who won the battle to take the runner-up spot, a fraction ahead of Efren Vazquez (Leopard Racing Honda NSF250RW).
In their slipstream came Enea Bastianini (Junior Team Gresini Moto3 Honda NSF250RW), Brad Binder (KTM), John McPhee (SaxoPrint RTG Honda NSF250RW) and Andrea Locatelli (Junior Team Gresini Moto3 Honda NSF250RW).
That made it six Hondas in the first seven finishers. Qatar winner Alexis Masbou (SaxoPrint RTG Honda NSF250RW) should also have been in there, but he slid off at the very last corner and pushed his damaged bike over the finish line in 16th place, just one place out of the points.
Australian Remy Gardner finished the race in 18th position after starting outside the top twenty.
Race Results
1 Danny Kent 41'32.287 GBR HONDA Leopard Racing
2 Fabio Quartararo 8.532 FRA HONDA Estrella Galicia 0'0
3 Efren Vazquez 8.652 ESP HONDA Leopard Racing
4 Enea Bastianini 8.811 ITA HONDA Junior Team Gresini Moto3
5 Brad Binder 9.556 ZAF KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo
6 John McPhee 13.869 SCO HONDA SAXOPRINT Racing Team Germany
7 Andrea Locatelli 20.442 ITA HONDA Junior Team Gresini Moto3
8 Romano Fenati 20.611 ITA KTM SKY Racing Team VR46
9 Isaac Vi̱ales 20.863 ESP HUSQVARNA Husqvarna Factory Laglisse
10 Karel Hanika 20.913 BRNO KTM Red Bull KTM Ajo
11 Jakub Kornfeil 21.249 CZE KTM Sepang International Circuit
12 Andrea Migno 23.725 ITA KTM SKY Racing Team VR46
13 Philipp Oettl 32.218 GER KTM Schedl GP Racing
14 Niklas Ajo 36.702 FIN KTM RBA Racing Team
15 Matteo Ferrari 37.283 ITA MAHINDRA San Carlo Team Italia
16 Alexis Masbou 47.027 FRA HONDA SAXOPRINT Racing Team Germany
17 Maria Herrera 59.257 ESP HUSQVARNA Husqvarna Factory Laglisse
18 Remy Gardner 1'03.748 AUS MAHINDRA CIP
19 Gabriel Rodrigo 1'04.611 ESP KTM RBA Racing Team
20 Zulfahmi Khairuddin 1'16.968 SEPANG KTM Sepang International Circuit
Championship standings
1 Danny Kent 41 pts
2 Enea Bastianini 33 pts
3 Efren Vazquez 29 pts
4 Fabio Quartararo 29 pts
5 Alexis Masbou 25 pts
6 John McPhee 21 pts
7 Brad Binder 17 pts
8 Isaac Vi̱ales 17 pts
9 Andrea Locatelli 14 pts
10 Niccolo Antonelli 8 pts
11 Romano Fenati 8 pts
12 Francesco Bagnaia 7 pts
13 Jakub Kornfeil 7 pts
14 Karel Hanika 6 pts
15 Jorge Martin 5 pts
16 Andrea Migno 4 pts
17 Miguel Oliveira 3 pts
18 Philipp Oettl 3 pts
19 Niklas Ajo 2 pts
20 Matteo Ferrari 1 pts
Top Image: All Honda Moto3 Podium With Danny Kent On Top Of The Americas
