Masbou, le jour de gloire !

Another superb Moto3™ race at the bwin Grand Prix České republiky saw Alexis Masbou secure victory after a long battle featuring a huge leading group, with Enea Bastianini and Danny Kent joining him on the podium. A deserved win for Masbou (Ongetta-Rivacold) in his 133rd Grand Prix race came by just a 0.157s margin from Bastianini (Junior Team Go&FUN Moto3), who rode bravely with a broken heel. The win for experienced Frenchman Masbou makes him the rider to have competed in most Grands Prix before tasting victory. Kent (Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo) returned to the podium in third, with 15 riders crossing the line tightly packed in a front running group. Alex Marquez (Estrella Galicia 0,0) just missed the podium in fourth having led on several laps, whilst his teammate Alex Rins finished ninth, having remarkably celebrated a lap early, thinking he had won the race. A fifth placed finish for Jack Miller (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was enough to increase his championship advantage to 23 points. The top ten was completed by Brad Binder (Ambrogio Racing), Miguel Oliveira (Mahindra Racing), Efren Vazquez (SAXOPRINT RTG), Rins and Isaac Viñales (Calvo Team). With local rider Karel Hanika (Red Bull KTM Ajo) finishing just 1.838s behind winner Masbou but back in 15th place, the race produced the closest ever top 15 in the history of the World Championship. Jorge Navarro (Marc VDS Racing Team) and John Mcphee (SAXOPRINT RTG) crashed out on the first lap, with wild card Gabriel Rodrigo (RBA Racing Team) and Luca Grünwald (Kiefer Racing) also suffering crashes. None were seriously injured. Ana Carrasco (RW Racing GP) retired with a technical problem.