Repsol rider, who crashed on Lap 2, benefits from restart to Australian GP. Teammate Jorge Navarro falls twice due to mistakes from other riders –either side of the red flag.
The Moto3 Australian GP was an accident-filled race split into two parts, with an initial incident on Lap 2 dropping the Repsol riders outside the points. Aron Canet fell on Lap 2, but remounted and later reaped the rewards for his persistence. Another crash on Lap 6, involving Jorge Navarro, saw Race Direction bring out the red flag and both riders were able to resume the race at the restart.
After the contest got back underway, both fought for third place of the podium until, during the last lap, Navarro was eliminated from the race after contact from a rival. Canet claimed third position by just 48 thousandths of a second, taking his first rostrum in Moto3.
Jorge Navarro
Not classified
“It was a pretty crazy race. On the first start I dropped far down at Turn 2 when trying to dodge a multiple-rider crash. I was able to climb up the order, until there was another big incident; McPhee was hurt and I hit Bastianini -I hope both are ok. In the second race I knew things would be very nervous and my goal was to finish. With three laps to go I went in front of the second group, but I was passed under my slipstream by six riders and went down to tenth. There was a lot of overtaking and on the last lap I hit the brakes at my reference point, but another rider went wide and knocked me off my line. When I was back on the line and accelerating, Bendsneyder hit me in an unsporting move.”
Aron Canet
3rd, at 9.594 sec.
“As soon as I crossed the finish line I began to cry. I think that’s a good summary of what happened. It was amazing; I crashed in the first race, a red flag was shown, and in the second half I was able to come back. I was able to ride in the lead group and on the final laps I decided to go ahead, be brave and try to break away from the group. When I had stretched the pack out a little, Darryn Binder passed me and this worked out perfectly, because he was also very strong and I could take advantage of his slipstream to pass on the straight. When I crossed the finish line, the screen showed me fourth and I didn’t think I was on the podium, but then it changed to third and it was an amazing feeling. The experience of the whole year came through today, and I now know better how to handle races like this one.”
