After the spectacular race at Mugello, Bendsneyder and Antonelli will take on the Catalan GP looking for a step forward and to enter into the podium fight.

The exciting Moto3 World Championship season continues apace this weekend, and the series has a second race in two weekends this Sunday. The Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit hosts the Catalan GP, with Bo Bendsneyder and Niccolo Antonelli hoping to get the results they want after some great work in recent rounds.

Luck was not on his side on the final laps of the Italian GP, but Bo Bendsneyder completed the entire race in the leading group, keeping patient before mounting an attack. The Dutchman hopes to continue with the run of results he has had since the series arrived in Europe, but wants to take the final step up to fight for the podium on Sunday. In his rookie year, he completed the Catalan GP eleventh.

His home Grand Prix in Italy did not go as planned, but Niccolo Antonelli wants to make up for that on Sunday in Barcelona. The Catalan circuit is to the Italian’s liking, and he has had notable performances there. Last year he took a place on the front row in qualifying and, in 2015, he finished just off the podium with a fourth position -his best result there so far.

The seventh race of the year in the Moto3 World Championship will be held at 11am on Sunday. The track features a change in its layout this season, with modifications to the old Turn 10 and a new chicane at the former Turn 12. The circuit now consists of 16 corners: 7 left handers and 9 right handers.

Circuit information – Barcelona-Catalunya
Length: 4.655 m / 2.9 miles
Width: 12 metres
Left corners: 7
Right corners: 9
Longest straight: 1.047 m / 0.651 miles
Constructed: 1991
Modified: 2017

23 NICCOLO ANTONELLI
“The Barcelona-Catalunya Circuit is one of my favourite tracks on the calendar. We go there with the desire to get the result that I think that the team and I deserve, and that so far has not come for us. At Mugello it was a weekend of ups and downs, so this weekend we must be consistent and take a step forward. I’m sure it will be a very different race to Mugello, because those races are very special, but in any case, we must always adapt and do well at any type of race that presents itself.”

64 BO BENDSNEYDER
“Last year I had a pretty good race in Catalonia, because I finished in the Top 15 and I was in the fight for the Top 10. I had a good feeling and it’s a track that I really like. It has a fairly long straight, but it is also a very fast circuit in general. We will also have to learn the new chicane, so on Thursday we will go there to see how it is, but I think it is a change that has been well done after what happened, it is for our safety and we have to respect it. I think we will find a race that is very different to that of Mugello, in which pace will be much more important and we will not have such a large lead group. The straight is not as decisive as it was last week. I hope that after the Italian round we can improve and keep climbing positions in the standings.”