Two moments of bad luck cost Loi top 10

Livio Loi rode a splendid Moto3 race of the Grand Prix of San Marino. RW Racing GP’s Belgian finished in thirteenth after a fierce battle. It could have been a solid top 10 finish if two tiny moments of bad luck had not appeared.

The crucial moment in the race for Livio Loi was in lap 13. Together with Philipp Oettl, Loi had just closed a gap of one and a half seconds to the leading group of nine. In the back of the group, in eleventh position, Loi made a tiny mistake in the first sector of the Misano World Circuit. That one mistake - going a bit too wide - cost him over one and a half seconds in one lap and as a result he lost connection with the group.

While the group could take advantage of each other’s slipstream, Loi was on his own and unable to benefit. That also gave Juanfran Guevara and Niccolo Antonelli the opportunity to close in. By the time they came to Loi the gap to the group had grown to 2,5 seconds: impossible to overcome.

The trio had a fierce fight for eleventh place, with Loi being strong enough to take the lead over and over again. Until in the penultimate lap suddenly he couldn’t shift down anymore from fourth gear. Only after a few attempts Loi could shift gears again normally. But that had cost him about 0,6 which he had to make up for in the final lap.

Loi came close, but just ran out of time to get back to eleventh. He finished in thirteenth at just 0,012 from Guevara in twelfth, to collect another 3 points for the championship.

Livio Loi - 13 (+14,103)

“I’m really happy with the race, but I would have wanted a bit more from the result. The start was quite good, but I was pushed wide in turn 1, which cost me a few positions. I was able to fight my way back and from lap 4 on - I was in twelfth - I could close the gap to the front group together with Oettl. It was a real pity that I made a mistake just after we had found the connection. I ran wide in the first part of the circuit and when that happens, it takes you a lap to get back to the right rhythm. If you miss one corner, you also enter the next one off the line, and the next one and so on. I lost too much from that one tiny mistake and that has definitely cost me a top 10 finish.

When Guevara and Antonelli closed in on me, we had a great battle for eleventh and I knew I was the strongest especially in the last part of the circuit, but in the penultimate lap my gear was stuck. I don’t know what happened, but I could not shift down anymore. I tried to push, I tried to double-clutch and finally I tried to accelerate again and from then it came loose again and enabled me to shift normal. I had lost over half a second trying to get it out of fourth gear and there wasn’t enough time left to make up to the front of the group. I’m not happy with thirteenth knowing that I could have been at least eleventh and, without my own mistake, could have run for the top 10. That’s just a pity, but I’m not unsatisfied as all in all it was a good race.”