Kent takes his first GP victory

14/10/2012

Red Bull KTM Ajo factory team´s Danny Kent made his dream come true by taking a victory from the pole position in season´s third last Moto3 GP on Motegi circuit in Japan.
The victory and the pole were 18-year-old Kent´s first ones of his GP-career.
“A great and unbelievable feeling”, illness Kent rejoices, “This was a really good GP-weekend for me all the way from the beginning. The riding went fine all the time and I was able to start to the race with a confident mind.”
The last lap of the season´s 14th GP was full of drama.
First Luis Salom pushed the leader Jonas Folger out from the track and they both ended up retiring. Kent´s teammate Sandro Cortese, who took the beginning of the race calmly, went to the lead and 400 meters before the chequered flag it seemed that he will take the first ever Moto3 world championship already in Japan while his biggest rival Salom was out of the race and Maverick Vinales was at that stage fourth.
After a while Kent managed to push his way past to Cortese but the German touched Alessandro Tonucci’s wheels and dropped his bike. Cortese was able to remount after a nerve-racking moments and crossed the line in sixth.
“I passed Cortese in a right way”, Kent highlighted straight after the fight.
Kent bet Vinales who finished second by 0,260 seconds. Tonucci was third 2,352 seconds from Kent.
Cortese, who was only second time out from the podium this season managed – despite his misfortune – to extend his championship lead by five points. He is now 56 points ahead of Vinales and 61 points ahead of Salom. There are only 75 points to gain from the remaining GPs so without any major problems Cortese should be able to take the title.
“Of course I was really pissed off after the race but after I cooled down the situation looked much better”, Cortese describes, “I am in a great situation to head to the next weekend´s Malaysian GP.”
“Nevertheless, the end of this Motegi race was really eventful. In a way I was also lucky because I didn’t hurt myself and managed to gain good points” Cortese says.
Kent´s and Cortese´s teammate Arthur Sissis made a great improvement and finished 11th.
Kent is sixth in championship and Sissis 14th.

AIRASIA GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN
Moto3 Race Classification:
1. Danny Kent Great Britain, Red Bull KTM Ajo, KTM 40.02,775
2. Maverick Vinales Spain, Blusens Avintia, FTR Honda + 0,260
3. Alessandro Tonucci Italy, Team Italia FMI, FTR Honda + 2,352
4. Alex Rins Spain, Estrella Galicia 0,0, Suter Honda + 3,404
5. Zulfahmi Khairuddin Malaysia, AirAsia-Sic-Ajo, KTM + 3,645
6. Sandro Cortese Germany, Red Bull KTM Ajo, KTM + 13,394
7. Miguel Oliveira Portugal, Estrella Galicia 0,0, Suter Honda + 15,523
8. Louis Rossi France, Racing Team Germany, FTR Honda + 15,739
9. Efren Vazquez Spain, JHK t-shirt Laglisse, FTR Honda + 15,946
10. Romano Fenati Italy, Team Italia FMI, FTR Honda + 16,129
11. Arthur Sissis Australia, Red Bull KTM Ajo, KTM + 16,223
12. Niccolo Antonelli Italy, San Carlo Gresini Moto3, FTR Honda + 16,371
13. Niklas Ajo Finland, TT Motion Events Racing, KTM + 28,368
14. Alex Marquez Spain, Ambrogio Next Racing, Suter Honda + 28,375
15. Jakub Kornfeil Czech, Redox-Ongetta-Centro Seta, FTR Honda + 28,509

World Championship Standing:
1. Cortese 255
2. Vinales 199
3. Luis Salom Spain, Kalex KTM 194
4. Fenati 126
5. Rins 119
6. Kent 108
7. Khairuddin 92
8. Oliveira 83
9. Alexis Masbou France, Honda 81
10. Vazquez 77
11. Louis Rossi France, FTR Honda 76
12. Antonelli 73
13. Jonas Folger Germany, Kalex KTM 72
14. Sissis 63
15. Kornfeil 59
19. Ajo 26

Next GP: 21sth of October Sepang, Malaysia.

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