Viñales salvages difficult race at Brno

Races declared wet by Race Direction normally present a tricky challenge for riders. They are made doubly difficult when rain has already fallen and the track is drying out, becoming something of a lottery. That was the situation at Brno today for the Moto3 riders, creating a tough situation for leading riders in the series Sandro Cortese and Maverick Viñales.

The race began with the usual suspects looking to take advantage, on a still-wet track. The majority of competitors had opted for slick tyres, but those who had gone with wets opened up an early gap. Two such riders were Vázquez and Khairuddin. Meanwhile, Viñales and Cortese held back in the third group, waiting for the track to dry. Rins, Salom and Oliveira were also waiting for their moment.

As the race progressed, Folger moved up through the field before slotting into the lead, and began to take off on his own. Kornfeil was second for almost the entirety of the remaining laps, but on the penultimate time around Brno he was caught by the group that included Viñales and Cortese. Oliveira and Rins were split from the pack, whilst Salom joined the battle for second. Repsol rider Viñales tried to get past the powerful KTM of Cortese, but both were overtaken by Salom, who eventually took the runner-up spot. Cortese was third, Viñales fourth, adding three points to the German’s advantage in the title fight. The duo are now separated by 32 in the overall standings.

Alex Rins had a great race in the Czech Republic. He placed fifth at his first visit to Brno. Teammate Miguel Oliveira was ninth, with Álex Márquez twenty-first.

Maverick Viñales
“We could possibly have done better, but when the race began we had to take things with care because the track was wet. On the opening laps I focused on following Cortese. I lacked a bit of power and he was getting away from me on the slipstreams; I tried to do everything within my power, but when I tried to pass him the bike didn’t respond. I didn’t want to risk things.
We were able to up our pace at the end, because we were riding in the dry, and we are happy because in Germany when the conditions were similar I placed fifteenth. Today I was fourth. We also recovered confidence in the wet and the conditions were difficult, so we have to continue fighting and going for it.”

Miguel Oliveira
“The positive part is that we made a good comeback: We started from 21st and placed inside the top 10. Ninth isn’t a bad finish. The first part of the race was not the most difficult, because in the second part I couldn’t control my bike and was having a harder time with the passing of every lap. That was because of a small problem with my rear tyre. That meant that we couldn’t cap off a good job. This circuit has been difficult for me and we have had to fight a lot, so we should be satisfied with the result and focus on the next race.”

Álex Rins
“The moments before the race on the grid were very difficult and I was a little nervous about the tyre choice. However, once the race started I calmed down a bit. I got a good start and was able to push alongside Cortese until I got into fifth, so I am happy with the result. I focused on following the riders in front and I was able to keep up with them, which put me close to the podium. I want to thank my team and the sponsors for their support.”

Álex Márquez
“At the beginning of the race I felt comfortable, having made a decent start. We began with slick tyres and I think that we made the right choice, but I lost feel with the bike halfway through the race. The track was very tricky, so I preferred to avoid taking risks and finish the race. We know that we are fast in the dry.”

Source: Repsol Media