Niccolo Antonelli completes race at Silverstone in sixteenth position, whilst Bo Bendsneyder is hit by another rider on the penultimate lap.

The Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 team were not able to repeat last year’s success at Silverstone this Sunday afternoon. It was a tough race day for Niccolo Antonelli and Bo Bendsneyder, and their results were not what had been expected after a good qualifying session. Antonelli –not feeling 100% fit– finished sixteen, whilst Bendsneyder crashed with two laps remaining after being hit by another rider, when up in tenth.

Starting from the second row, Niccolo Antonelli got off the line well, remaining in fifth position after the opening lap. The Italian was up at the front during the first 3 laps, until he began to feel physically weak. Little by little he dropped down the order in the 23-strong lead group, to finally finish sixteenth.

Bo Bendsneyder was unfortunately one of the protagonists in an incident at the end of the race. Also in the large front group, the Dutchman was working his way through the Top 10 when he was hit at Turn 16 of the penultimate lap. The incident forced Race Direction to show the red flag and cut the race one lap short.

After 12 rounds of the season, the Moto3 World Championship moves on to the next event in two weeks’ time. It will be a home race for Antonelli, at the Misano Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

Results (Race)
1. Aron Canet (Honda) 35:53.028
2. Enea Bastianini (Honda) +0.063
3. Jorge Martin (Honda) +0.111
4. Gabriel Rodrigo (KTM) +0.232
5. Joan Mir (Honda) +0.455
16. Niccolo Antonelli (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +4.292
DNF. Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo)

Moto3 World Championship Standing 2017
1. Joan Mir (Honda) 226 points
2. Aron Canet (Honda) 162 points
3. Romano Fenati (Honda) 160 points
4. Jorge Martin (Honda) 121 points
5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Honda) 101 points
16. Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 38 points
20. Niccolo Antonelli (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 16 points

23 NICCOLO ANTONELLI
“The truth is that today in the race I felt very comfortable with the bike and that’s why I could be up there on the opening laps. However, the problem today was my fitness. I’m still not feeling well and had to make a big effort to keep my pace up. With the changes of direction here I was very tired and that didn’t allow me to attack and go hard on the gas like the others. I feel bad about being in this situation and we must look at how I can work so that it doesn’t happen again. Now we have to forget about this race, train hard and try to do well at my home GP.”

64 BO BENDSNEYDER
“Overall, today’s race in general was difficult. We were battling with more than twenty riders in one group, and that’s never easy. The positive is that we were always in the Top 10, so it was a good race and I felt comfortable with the bike.

In this sport incidents like today’s can happen, but we can’t do anything about it. It was at Turn 16, I was hit from behind and I went straight off track. I hope Juanfran [Guevara] is OK.
Now it’s time to put this race behind us and concentrate on the next round. We’ll keep working; the results will come.”

AKI AJO – TEAM MANAGER
“Once again the Moto3 class has treated us to an exciting race, with more than twenty riders in the leading group. However, in the end it wasn’t a good day for us. Bo [Bendsneyder] was close to the leading riders all the time, but he still had a little way to go to get into the top positions. Everything was still open for him on the last laps, until there was the incident with another rider. That’s racing. For Niccolo [Antonelli] it was a difficult race. It’s time to look ahead to the next round at Misano.”