Moto3 Motorcycle Grand Prix Has a New World Champion
Posted by Ben Baker on Nov 12th 2016
| The Moto3 motorcycle grand prix has a new world champion and he’s the first from Great Britain to hold the title since 1977. |
| Danny Kent, 21, from Wiltshire, England, took the title with 260 points. Kent officially rode a Honda, but the bikes for the Moto3 are specially built for the races and are not street legal. Kent’s ride was a one-lunger 250cc four-stroke. |
| Kent clinched his victory at the Valenica finals earlier this month. In order to win the title, he had to finish at least 14th in the pack. He came in 9th and started the race in 18th place. He won five of his first nine races. |
| The Daily Mail said Kent was “playing it safe” in the race once he managed to move up from 18th place past 14th. |
| In the Valencia, Kent came in just behind teammate Hiroki Ono. Portugal's Miguel Oliveira took the checkered flag in the race. |
| At one point during the season, Kent was leading the pack by 60 points. The series came across the Atlantic Ocean to race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Kent suffered the first of several setbacks on the season. He failed to amass any points in that race, despite earning the pole position. |
| The problem was rain. Most of the riders opened with rain-riding tires. But the track dried out and they switched over to dry-surface tires. That’s where the problem hit. His pit crew too “far too long in the bike swap and he dropped 14 positions on the second lap,” the Standard reported. |
| By the end of that race, he was in 21st place. |
| Another race in at the Gran Premio TIM di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini in September had Kent qualify for 3rd place. He had a difficult start and lost the leaders. He took another setback with a one-place penalty for exceeding the track’s limits too often. Motoscene said, “The penalty meant Kent had to wait for the rider behind him to pass him, who was over three seconds behind him. This penalty meant that there was just too much to do to catch up with the leading pack, and he had to settle for sixth place in the end.” |
| He had a chance to put the title away for good in mid-October, but a crash & burn took him out of the race at Phillip Island. News.com from Australia said, “Honda rider Kent and nearest rival Italian Enea Bastianni, also on a Honda, both crashed in a spectacular high-side accident involving four bikes on the Southern Loop corner on the 13th lap.” Neither driver was injured. |
| That race saw the Valencia winner Oliveria take the flag and close the gap between himself and Kent to 40 points. In the end, it wasn’t enough. When the season final in Valencia was over, Oliveria had 254 points to Kent’s 260. |
| Kent rode with the Leopard Racing team. The last rider from Great Britain to win the title was the late Barry Sheene in 1977. |