Danny Kent clinches 2015 Moto3 title at Valencia finale
Danny Kent wrapped up the 2015 Moto3 title with ninth at the season finale at Valencia, despite a sixth win of the season for rival Miguel Oliveira
Kent, who started just 18th after making a mistake with gearbox set-up in qualifying, became the first Briton to win a grand prix motorcycle racing world championship since Barry Sheene's 500cc crown in 1977.
After failing to clinch the title at the last two rounds, Kent went into the final race of the season needing to finish 14th or better to wrap up the Moto3 crown, regardless of Oliveira's result.
As a fast-starting Oliveira battled for the lead out front with Kent's Leopard Racing team-mate Efron Vazquez and Jorge Navarro, the Briton made steady progress through the field, moving up the order to run 11th going into the closing stages.
Kent struggled to clear his team-mate Hiroki Ono, but the point was made moot as Niccolo Antonelli cleared out fellow frontrunners Romano Fenati and Vazquez on the final lap, promoting the Briton to ninth position, enough to win the title.
Ajo Motorsport rider Oliveira, who will be Kent's Moto2 team-mate in 2016 when both move up with the Kiefer-run Leopard Racing squad, beat Navarro in a hard-fought battle to score a third consecutive win and finish as runner-up in the championship.
Jakub Kornfeil profited from Antonelli's last-lap crash to complete the podium, with Brad Binder and Enea Bastianini fourth and fifth respectively.
LEADING RESULTS - 24 LAPS:
Pos | Rider | Team | Bike | Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Miguel Oliveira | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 40m09.792s |
2 | Jorge Navarro | Estrella Galicia 0,0 | Honda | 0.198s |
3 | Jakub Kornfeil | Drive M7 SIC | KTM | 2.090s |
4 | Brad Binder | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 2.121s |
5 | Enea Bastianini | Gresini Racing Team Moto3 | Honda | 2.975s |
6 | Isaac Vinales | RBA Racing Team | KTM | 3.343s |
7 | John McPhee | SaxoPrint RTG | Honda | 4.087s |
8 | Hiroki Ono | Leopard Racing | Honda | 9.627s |
9 | Danny Kent | Leopard Racing | Honda | 9.914s |
10 | Philipp Ottl | Schedl GP Racing | KTM | 10.580s |
LEADING CHAMPIONSHIP POSITIONS:
Pos | Rider | Points |
---|---|---|
1 | Danny Kent | 260 |
2 | Miguel Oliveira | 254 |
3 | Enea Bastianini | 207 |
4 | Romano Fenati | 176 |
5 | Niccolo Antonelli | 174 |
6 | Brad Binder | 159 |
7 | Jorge Navarro | 157 |
8 | Efren Vazquez | 155 |
9 | Isaac Vinales | 115 |
10 | Fabio Quartararo | 92 |
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments