Brno Moto3: Di Giannantonio fends off Canet for first win

Gresini Honda rider Di Giannantonio prevailed in a hectic conclusion to the 18-lap race, grabbing the lead from local hero Jakub Kornfeil at the start of the final tour and hanging on to win by just 0.112s from Canet.

It was Kornfeil that lead the early running from pole, as the Prustel KTM rider built a gap of nearly a second before being reeled in by the chasing pack.

Marco Ramirez, John McPhee, Dennis Foggia, Gabriel Rodrigo, Philipp Oettl all enjoyed spells out front in the middle part of the race, although McPhee was eliminated from contention when he suffered a crash at the final corner after contact with Ramirez on lap 11.

Kornfeil managed to retake the advantage at the start of lap 13, but was unable to escape this time, and was overtaken by Di Giannantonio several corners later as the pair began exchanging blows over the next couple of laps.

But Kornfeil's chances of a famous home victory were irreparably damaged when he was passed by Canet's Estrella Galicia Honda and then ran wide at Turn 10 on the final lap.

Despite his late charge, Canet couldn't get close enough to Di Giannantonio, whose first Moto3 win comes after 10 previous podium finishes. He was also deprived of an on-the-road victory at Le Mans due to a post-race penalty.

Kornfeil was forced to settle for third, his best result of the season, while Enea Bastianini (Leopard Honda) and Rodrigo (RBA KTM) completed the top five.

Title contender Marco Bezzecchi was sixth, and with pre-race points leader Jorge Martin unable to compete due to injury, the Italian now moves into the lead of the championship by three points.

Di Giannantonio moves up to third, 17 points adrift of Bezzecchi (Prustel).

Ramirez (Bester Capital KTM), Oettl (Schedl KTM), Albert Arenas (Aspar KTM) and Lorenzo Dalla Porta (Leopard) completed the top 10. Foggia (VR46 KTM), despite his spell in the lead, slipped to 12th at the finish.

Honda Team Asia rider Kaito Toba suffered a major crash on the third lap at Turn 4 and was taken to the medical centre, but it was subsequently declared that the Japanese rider had escaped injury.

Race results:

Pos.	#	Rider	Bike	Time/Gap
1	21	Fabio Di Giannantonio	Honda	39'09.124
2	44	Aron Canet	Honda	0.112
3	84	Jakub Kornfeil	KTM	0.339
4	33	Enea Bastianini	Honda	0.560
5	19	Gabriel Rodrigo	KTM	0.771
6	12	Marco Bezzecchi	KTM	0.896
7	42	Marcos Ramirez	KTM	1.030
8	65	Philipp Ottl	KTM	1.097
9	75	Albert Arenas	KTM	2.034
10	48	Lorenzo Dalla Porta	Honda	2.056
11	23	Niccolo Antonelli	Honda	2.093
12	10	Dennis Foggia	KTM	2.359
13	22	Kazuki Masaki	KTM	2.517
14	24	Tatsuki Suzuki	Honda	2.616
15	14	Tony Arbolino	Honda	2.770
16	41	Nakarin Atiratphuvapat	Honda	3.674
17	5	Jaume Masia	KTM	4.618
18	72	Alonso Lopez	Honda	4.870
19	8	Nicolo Bulega	KTM	4.942
20	16	Andrea Migno	KTM	4.954
21	77	Vicente Perez	KTM	12.923
22	71	Ayumu Sasaki	Honda	12.942
23	40	Darryn Binder	KTM	12.956
24	15	Filip Salac	KTM	41.511
Ret	7	Adam Norrodin	Honda	1 Lap
Ret	81	Stefano Nepa	KTM	4 Laps
Ret	17	John McPhee	KTM	9 Laps
Ret	27	Kaito Toba	Honda	16 Laps