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Brno Moto3: Jonas Folger takes first series win in mixed weather

Jonas Folger claimed his first Moto3 victory with a dominant ride in tricky conditions at Brno

Overnight rain led to a greasy, patchy surface for the start of the race, prompting some - most notably Efren Vazquez - to gamble on wets. The conditions also forced the championship's main protagonists to be cautious, the front order hugely mixed as a result.

Vazquez predictably flew in the early stages, storming into a four-second lead within two laps, but by lap four the advantage had swung to slicks and the Laglisse Honda slipped back relentlessly as the race wore on.

Folger had been the only rider to stay near Vazquez early on, and then reaped the rewards of being the most aggressive rider as conditions began to improve, often lapping two seconds faster than the rest of the field.

He disappeared down the road as a result, building a lead of 12s by the halfway mark which he maintained until the finish to claim his first series win in only his second race after replacing Alberto Moncayo at Aspar.

For a while it seemed the Czech fans would be able to welcome two home riders onto the podium, as Jakub Kornfeil (Ongetta FTR-Honda) and wildcard Mirsolav Popov (Mahindra MGP30) - who had started 29th - held second and third.

Halfway through however Sandro Cortese (Ajo KTM) and Maverick Vinales (Avintia FTR-Honda), now assured of dry conditions, began their charge, bring Luis Salom (RW Kalex-KTM) and Alex Rins (Monlau Suter-Honda) with them.

With two laps to run the quartet finally caught Kornfeil, setting up a thrilling five-way last-lap battle.

Cortese appeared to be destined for second but on the penultimate corner Salom dived down the inside to snatch second. Cortese was still able to extend his points advantage over Vinales, who finished directly behind him in fourth.

Kornfeil, who came just two laps short of securing a maiden Moto3 podium on home soil, had to settle for sixth behind Rins, while Popov fell four laps from the end.

Wildcard John McPhee (Racing Steps) had also impressed early on, jumping from 19th to fourth, but eventually dropped to 15th as conditions improved.

Results - 19 laps:

Pos  Rider                  Team/Bike                      Time/Gap
 1.  Jonas Folger           Aspar Kalex-KTM              43m03.089s
 2.  Luis Salom             RW Kalex-KTM                   + 5.918s
 3.  Sandro Cortese         Ajo KTM                        + 5.963s
 4.  Maverick Vinales       Avintia FTR-Honda              + 6.091s
 5.  Alex Rins              Monlau Suter-Honda             + 6.490s
 6.  Jakub Kornfeil         Ongetta FTR-Honda              + 6.572s
 7.  Danny Kent             Ajo KTM                        + 8.421s
 8.  Romano Fenati          Italia FMI FTR-Honda          + 13.382s
 9.  Miguel Oliveira        Monlau Suter-Honda            + 13.909s
10.  Alessandro Tonucci     Italia FMI FTR-Honda          + 22.466s
11.  Hector Faubel          Aspar Kalex-KTM               + 25.974s
12.  Alberto Moncayo        Laglisse FTR-Honda            + 26.013s
13.  Adrian Martin          Laglisse FTR-Honda            + 26.549s
14.  Arthur Sissis          Ajo KTM                       + 26.708s
15.  John McPhee            Steps Foundation KRP-Honda    + 29.753s
16.  Alexis Masbou          Caretta Honda                 + 32.949s
17.  Louis Rossi            Germany FTR-Honda             + 35.869s
18.  Joan Olive             TT Motion KTM                 + 40.433s
19.  Luca Gruenwald         Freudenberg Honda             + 40.951s
20.  Brad Binder            RW Kalex-KTM                  + 41.125s
21.  Alex Marquez           Ambrogio Suter-Honda          + 41.271s
22.  Giulian Pedone         Ambrogio Suter-Honda          + 45.814s
23.  Niccolo Antonelli      Gresini FTR-Honda             + 55.417s
24.  Jasper Iwema           FGR-Honda                   + 1m25.801s
25.  Efren Vazquez          Laglisse FTR-Honda          + 1m39.559s
26.  Kenta Fujii            Technomag-CIP TSR-Honda     + 1m44.620s
27.  Luigi Morciano         Ioda Italia                 + 2m17.928s
28.  Armando Pontone        Ioda                            + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Zulfahmi Khairuddin    Ajo KTM                         14 laps
     Miroslav Popov         Mahindra                        14 laps
     Michael Ruben Rinaldi  Caretta Honda                   11 laps
     Toni Finsterbusch      MZ-Honda                        10 laps

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