Fabio Di Giannantonio (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) produced a perfect ride to secure his first Grand Prix win at the Monster Energy Grand Prix České republiky in a race that saw a lead battle of 22 riders at one point, with the Italian beating Aron Canet (Estrella Galicia 0,0) to the line as the Spaniard finished second, with pole man and home hero Jakub Kornfeil (Redox PrustelGP) claiming a fantastic podium in third.

It was the Czech rider who got a great launch from pole position to grab the holeshot with John McPhee (CIP – Green Power) – who suffered a lap 10 crash at the final corner – and Marcos Ramirez (Bester Capital Dubai) slotting in behind the number 84. Kornfeil was then on a mission, opening up a 0.8 second lead by the end of the first lap, and held that lead until the gaggle of chasing riders reeled him in by the end of lap three.

From here on in, the lightweight class race was nothing short of spectacular as a leading group of 22 formed, with P1 swapping and changing lap-by-lap. ‘Diggia’ made his way forward and the eventual race winner was in and around the top three for the majority of the second half of the race, with Turn 7 a particular strong overtaking point for the Italian. Heading into the last lap, Kornfeil’s dream home victory was in sight, but it was Di Giannantonio and Canet who managed to get through and create a small gap – the Del Conca Gresini rider holding firm to take the checkered flag.

After languishing down outside the top ten for much of the race, Enea Bastianini (Leopard Racing) recovered in the final laps to earn an important P4, holding off Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA BOE Skull Rider) on the final lap as the Argentine rounded out the top five. At one point it looked like Marco Bezzecchi (Redox PrustelGP) wouldn’t be able to take advantage of Jorge Martin’s (Del Conca Gresini Moto3) absence, but a P6 finish from P14 on the grid means he re-takes the Championship lead heading to Austria – three points the gap.

Ramirez ended up seventh after a fantastic race in the lead group, with Philipp Oettl (Sudmetal Schedl GP Racing) eventually coming home P8 after leading the race. Albert Arenas (Angel Nieto Team) and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard Racing) rounded out the top ten in P9 and P10 respectively.

11th was Niccolo Antonelli (SIC58 Squadra Corse) on board his Honda, with Dennis Foggia (SKY Racing Team VR46) crossing the line 12th after he briefly led the race. Ayumu Masaki (RBA BOE Skull Rider) came home 13th, Tatsuki Suzuki (SIC58 Squadra Corse) was 14th and Tony Arbolino (Marinelli Snipers Team) was the final point scorer in P15 – 2.770 seconds splitting the top 15 in the closest Moto3 race in history.

Kaito Toba (Honda Team Asia) suffered a nasty looking crash on the exit of Turn 4 on lap 3 – thankfully rider ok.

By MotoGP

Canet, Di Giannantonio, Kornfeil, Moti3 race, Czech MotoGP 2018