Pecco Bagnaia kicks off 2016 with a podium at Losail

Aspar Mahindra rider produces thrilling ride to third to secure second career podium finish


With less than a second separating no fewer than nineteen riders on the grid in qualifying yesterday, tonight's opening race of the Moto3 season was always going to be a close affair. Virtually the entire field made up the lead group over the opening four laps but as the pace settled at the front into the mid-2'06s a group of five made a break. Three riders (Bulega, Loi and Bastianini) managed to join the party in a thrilling finale that saw constant changes at the front, with Antonelli making the most of a slipstream from Binder to take the win by just 0.007 seconds at the line. 
Pecco Bagnaia was just a tenth behind the winner as he secured the second podium of his career (his first came last year at Le Mans). It was a race the Aspar Mahindra rider won't forget in a long time, which started with five overtakes on the first lap. He made constant passes for the rest of the race in the corners as he tried to make up for a speed deficit on the straights, his hard work taking him to within 0.148 seconds of the win. On the other side of the Aspar Mahindra garage his team-mate Jorge Martín enjoyed contrasting fortunes tonight, getting beaten up at the start and constantly losing ground on the straights. The Spaniard was eventually forced to retire on the penultimate lap. 
3^rd Pecco Bagnaia: “Today was a really difficult race but probably the best of my life! I had to push almost beyond the limit in every corner for eighteen laps. Over the first few laps I was losing a bit to the others because I was lacking power coming out of turn ten and the last turn. I had to take a lot of risks on the brakes to recover the ground I had lost in the straight. I worked the rear tyre so hard that there was barely any grip left at the end of the race. We knew we would have this issue here but we have given our maximum over the past two days to find a better set-up and that is what allowed us to fight for the podium today. Thanks to the work done by the team I was able to brake really hard and carry a lot of corner speed. The new fairing also gave us a boost and allowed me to stick with the group, I don't think it would have been possible otherwise. It was really important for us to make the most of the slipstreams and I gave it everything I had to be at the front, so this podium gives us an enormous amount of satisfaction.”
Jorge Martín (DNF): “It was a tough race for us tonight here at Losail. At the start my pace was really good but I was losing a lot of ground to my rivals on the straights and eventually dropped back. I tried to make it up in the corners but I didn't have a great feeling with the bike. I tried to finish the race but it wasn't possible so we have to keep working hard to make sure we have a better feeling in the next race.”