Dutchman just misses out on points in race cut short due to rain. Niccolo Antonelli crashes out after a great start.

The Australian GP was a difficult one for the Red Bull KTM Ajo Moto3 team on raceday. As is typical at Phillip Island, rain played an important role in the race, appearing with 7 laps remaining and cutting the race short. Bo Bendsneyder crossed the finish line in sixteenth position after moving up three positions, while Niccolo Antonelli suffered a crash on Lap 2.

After a wet warmup, the Moto3 race was declared dry by Race Direction. Niccolo Antonelli made a great start from the fifth row of the grid, gaining seven positions on the first sector. However, at Turn 4 of the second lap he crashed out when in eighth place.

Bendsneyder did not have an easy task from the seventh row, in a race in which the flag indicating rain appeared on several occasions. The Dutchman went into 20th place, before gradually climbing up the order until reaching sixteenth place on Lap 12. With 7 laps remaining the rain increased and the red flag was waved to finish the race. The results were taken from the order on Lap 15.

The Moto3 World Championship’s triple flyaways will conclude next week in Sepang. Bendsneyder and Antonelli will come into the penultimate round of the season in fifteenth -with 55 points- and eighteenth position -36 points-, respectively.

Results (Race)
1. Joan Mir (Honda) 24:51.490
2. Livio Loi (Honda) +0.351
3. Jorge Martin (Honda) +0.359
4. Gabriel Rodrigo (KTM) +0.388
5. Enea Bastianini (Honda) +0.408
16. Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) +19.418
DNF. Niccolo Antonelli (Red Bull KTM Ajo)

Moto3 World Championship Standing 2017
1. Joan Mir (Honda) 296 points
2. Romano Fenati (Honda) 226 points
3. Aron Canet (Honda) 184 points
4. Jorge Martin (Honda) 151 points
5. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Honda) 146 points
15. Bo Bendsneyder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 55 points
18. Niccolo Antonelli (Red Bull KTM Ajo) 36 points

23 NICCOLO ANTONELLI
“I’m very upset for myself and the team, who have given me a very good bike all weekend. We have been fast from the get-go. We were in the top positions in the race and at Turn 4 of the second lap I had an incident with another rider. We clipped one another and I was not able to avoid the crash. I made a mistake that cost me the race. It’s a shame for me and the team because I would have been able to put in a great performance. It’s time to look to Malaysia and get a good result there.”

64 BO BENDSNEYDER
“The weekend didn’t go badly and in the dry we were quite fast and competitive. We were also fast in the wet, as we showed in the warmup. It was a shame about the result we achieved in the race. At first there were some puddles and I didn’t feel very comfortable, but after two laps the track was completely dry and I could go faster with every lap.

Later on I caught up to the big group and I passed the first rider; at that moment we had a mechanical problem that didn’t let me keep up the same pace. I told myself that I needed to finish the race and maybe pick up one or two points, but finally the race was cut short, making it impossible to fight to place higher up. Now we have to focus on Malaysia and hope we have more luck there.”

AKI AJO – TEAM MANAGER
“It is clear that the result in Moto3 was not what we expected after how the weekend had gone. We had a good base from the Free Practice sessions and the potential to get a good result. It’s true that QP was not perfect, but when it came to the race we knew we had the opportunity to have a good performance. Finally, we had some bad luck in the race. We have look forward and think about the two remaining GPs, and getting the results we deserve.”