Sterilgarda’s Romano Fenati completed his stunning weekend at Silverstone with a victory in the Moto3 BritishGP, holding off VR46’s Niccolò Antonelli in a lights-to-flag battle.
The top-two were initially challenged by Dennis Foggia with the Leopard rider fading slightly while maintaining his hold on the podium in the closing stages of the 17-lap contest. John McPhee dispatching an impressive comeback through the pack, after suffering at the start, to cross the line 12th.
The first race of the day started with pole-man Fenati keeping control as he grabbed the holeshot and looked to break the pack almost immediately. McPhee’s disastrous weekend continued as the Scot feel down the standings, to the back as the race got underway.
Antonelli was holding second as the opening laps unfolded, Andrea Migno and Riccardo Rossi on his wheels with Foggia and Darryn Binder - who’d made a dominant start from 16th, slightly adrift as they battled for fifth.
McPhee began the fight back, running 24th by the end of the second lap, his Petronas teammate taking the opportunity to better Foggia for the front of the second group.
There was an Italian trio out front as Fenati led his two countrymen around the 6km layout, Pedro Acosta finding contact with Sergio Garcia as the pair bickered just outside the top-10.
Foggia was back in front of Binder for top-five honours with the pair bettering Rossi as the Owlride man began to fade, sitting eighth by lap five. McPhee was flying as he worked his way through the field, finding 13th before advancing into the top-10 one lap later.
Drama struck Migno as the Snipers machine fell down the standings on lap six, a technical issue denying him his top-three contention.
Fenati and Antonelli sat three-seconds clear of the pursuing pack with 11 laps to go, rookie Izan Guevara joining the top-five fight with Tatsuki Suzuki, Jaume Masia and Deniz Öncü closely behind. Acosta on the edge of the top-10 after eight laps of action, McPhee following the championship leader with Carlos Tatay, Xavi Artigas and Filip Salac for company.
The halfway stage saw battles raging throughout the field, as positions changed by the second. Binder and Guevara repeatedly revolved for fourth and fifth with McPhee bouncing between 10th and 14th in the 11-strong mid-group.
It was a two-way fight at the front as the laps counted down, the pair almost inseparable as they wound round the historic British track, Foggia trailing 3.4s back with four riders firmly behind looking to take their place on the podium.
The mid-pack gaggle continued to bicker with five laps to go, albeit running two-seconds slower than Fenati out front. Nepa and Salac now swapping for 10th with McPhee pushed back to 14th before Garcia joined the fight.
A late charge saw Ayumu Sasaki up to 13th after spending the majority of the race at the back of the standings, Gabriel Rodrigo himself advancing to 15th as Acosta dropped back to 17th.
Two laps to go and Fenati looked to break Antonelli, the Max racer pulling an eighth-tenth gap as he consolidated his dominance, the still-injured Antonelli settling for an impressive second in the closing stages. Foggia, however, was on a charge, the Leopard dragging the second group with him as they honed in on the mid-podium position with one lap left to run.
It was the number-7 who would come under fired as the final lap played out, however, as Guevara struck for his debut podium, the GasGas rider unable to hold the experienced Italian off in the final sector with Suzuki and Masia demoting Binder in the dying seconds.
Fenati secured a thoroughly successful weekend in the UK, completing the set of pole, lap record and victory from an equally pleased Antonelli. The two Italians celebrating together in the cool down lap as Foggia rounded out the podium.
Guevara took fourth from Suzuki, Masia and Binder with Öncü, Rossi and Tatay completing the top-10. Last-lap tussles saw McPhee take 11th from Acosta, but the Scot was demoted the position after the flag due to track infringements. Sasaki claimed 13th with Salac and Rodrigo concluding the points scoring positions,
