Fenati wins French Moto3 Race on all Italian Podium

16 year old Fabio Quartararo started his home race from pole position as Britain’s Danny Kent started from 30th after not being able to set a qualifying lap in the dry. At the start of the race though it was Niccolo Antonelli and Francesco Bagnaia who led Fenati and the local Quartararo. After a handful of riders went down at the first chicane, Kent was already in 16th by the end of the first lap. As more laps went by around the Le Mans circuit, a front group consisting of 7 riders formed, with a small gap back to Vinales, then Kent. 

With exactly ten laps to go, Championship leader and winner of the last 3 races, Danny Kent overtook Vinales and dived into the scrapping front runners. A French fairytale win then went out of the window, as Quartararo highsided out of the Dunlop chicane, but was unhurt. 

Amazingly Danny Kent was now with the front 4, and victory was now a realistic goal. But it was not to be for the lad from Wiltshire, as Fenati was able to pull a little gap on compatriots Bastianini and Bagnaia, who were able to squeeze Kent off the podium. 

1. Romano Fenati ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 41m 22.829s
2. Enea Bastianini ITA Gresini Racing Team Moto3 (Honda) 41m 22.951s
3. Francesco Bagnaia ITA MAPFRE Team MAHINDRA (Mahindra) 41m 23.286s
4. Danny Kent GBR Leopard Racing (Honda) 41m 23.522s
5. Niccolò Antonelli ITA Ongetta-Rivacold (Honda) 41m 25.073s
6. Jakub Kornfeil CZE Drive M7 SIC (KTM) 41m 25.250s
7. Isaac Viñales SPA Husqvarna Factory Laglisse (Husqvarna) 41m 25.416s
8. Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 41m 26.894s
9. Andrea Migno ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (KTM) 41m 37.705s
10. Philipp Oettl GER Schedl GP Racing (KTM) 41m 45.417s
11. Hiroki Ono JPN Leopard Racing (Honda) 41m 46.076s
12. Juanfran Guevara SPA MAPFRE Team MAHINDRA (Mahindra) 41m 49.060s
13. Livio Loi BEL RW Racing GP (Honda) 41m 49.299s
14. Zulfahmi Khairuddin MAL Drive M7 SIC (KTM) 41m 49.506s
15. Stefano Manzi ITA San Carlo Team Italia (Mahindra) 41m 49.670s
16. Andrea Locatelli ITA Gresini Racing Team Moto3 (Honda) 41m 51.313s
17. John Mcphee GBR SAXOPRINT RTG (Honda) 41m 56.022s
18. Ana Carrasco SPA RBA Racing Team (KTM) 42m 1.808s
19. Maria Herrera SPA Husqvarna Factory Laglisse (Husqvarna) 42m 2.279s
20. Karel Hanika CZE Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 42m 21.011s
Jorge Martin SPA MAPFRE Team MAHINDRA (Mahindra) DNF
Alexis Masbou FRA SAXOPRINT RTG (Honda) DNF
Niklas Ajo FIN RBA Racing Team (KTM) DNF
Tatsuki Suzuki JPN CIP (Mahindra) DNF
Fabio Quartararo FRA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) DNF
Matteo Ferrari ITA San Carlo Team Italia (Mahindra) DNF
Jules Danilo FRA Ongetta-Rivacold (Honda) DNF
Darryn Binder RSA Outox Reset Drink Team (Mahindra) DNF
Jorge Navarro SPA Estrella Galicia 0,0 (Honda) DNF
Alessandro Tonucci ITA Outox Reset Drink Team (Mahindra) DNF
Remy Gardner AUS CIP (Mahindra) DNF
Gabriel Rodrigo ARG RBA Racing Team (KTM) DNF
Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) DNF
Efren Vazquez SPA Leopard Racing (Honda) DNF