Moto3: Mir takes second win as McPhee secures another podium

Joan Mir has taken his second win of the 2017 MotoGP season from two starts, after holding off the attentions of John McPhee and Jorge Martin for a repeat performance of the podium from last weekend’s Qatar podium in Argentina.

The podium trio were in a leading pack of five that broke away at the mid point of the race alongside Philipp Oettl and Andrea Migno, but on the final lap it came down to the front three, with the late braking of Mir handing the last lap leader the win.

“The race of today was amazing. At the beginning, I thought that many riders could make the break with the group, and I realised that I had to get away with them It’ll be a race to keep in mind.”

But despite losing out on the win, British Talent Team rider McPhee says that there’s still a lot to be positive about.

“It was definitely an exciting race, and Joan set a brilliant pace – it was higher than I expected. Coming into the last lap he was strong on the brakes and I was better on the exits, so I planned something for the last lap, but he braked so deep I ran a little wide. I’m a little frustrated not to get the win but it’s a long season and we’ve got some good points on the board.”

Livio Loi came home in sixth, ahead of a slow-starting Romano Fenati, who became embroiled in an incident with Niccolo Antonelli that saw his fellow Italian fall from the race, similar to another contact in the top ten between Nicolò Bulega and Enea Bastianini that saw one the latter fall and the former come home in 13^th.