Maverick Vinales took his second consecutive victory of the Moto3 season, after his victory with a perfectly and intelligently prepared race on a damp/dry track at the famous Bugatti circuit at Le Mans

The race was declared dry and the Team Calvo rider was the pole sitter, but he was beat to the first turn after the lights went out by Jonas Folger and the two were followed by Alex Rins, Luis Salom, Miguel Oliveira, Alex Marquez, Niklas Ajo and Jack Miller.

Vinales and Folger exchanged the lead over the first laps, but the Aspar rider regained the command of the race as the rest field began to lose contact with Folger, Vinales, Rins and suffering Salom, after his huge crash yesterday. The race lost the presence of Oliveira after he crashed his Mahindra at the Dunlop chicane during the fifth lap.

Continue reading: 2013 Moto3 Le Mans: Maverick Vinales takes second consecutive win

Maverick Vinales took his first win of the season in Moto3 at Jerez de la Frontera after the race was red flagged with five laps to go, following a crash by French rider Alan Techer that required trackside medical attention.

Taking off on the fron row Vinales grabbed the lead from pole sitter Alex Rins on the third lap followed by Luis Salom and Folger leaving the rest of the field almost five seconds back and fighting over the rest of the positions.

During the fifth lap Vinales tried to break away, but only Rins had the pace to stay with him, but the Estrella Galicia 0.0 rider lost not only a chance of a podium finsh, but he also lost the lead in the standings when he crashed out at turn 11 during the 9th lap.

Salom inheriting the second spot and he shaked off Folger, who would ride to third virtually uncontested, while riders began crashing left and right.

Miguel Oliveira wiped out Jack Miller at the Expo 92 turn, Ana Carrasco ran into Florian Alt, Niccolò Antonelli binned his FTR Honda as the race arrived at the three quarters of the 23 lap race, when Techer suffered a huge crash at the Alex Criville, effectively ending the race, with Vinales, Salom and Folger on the podium

Brad Binder took fourth after Oliveira and Miller crashed on lap 12, while Jakub Kornfeil prevailed to take fifth after a scrap with Zulfahmi Khairuddin, Niklas Ajo and Efren Vazquez.

Romano Fenati with all the crashes in front of him was able to finish in ninth and take home his second points of the season and safely ahead of Alex Masbou who closed out the top ten.

Continue reading: Maverick Vinales takes victory in red flagged Moto3 race at Jerez

Alex Rins took his first ever Moto3 victory at the Circuit of the Americas in a split race after Jasper Iwema suffered a massive highside during the 12th lap which resulted that the race had to be red flagged as the Dutch rider had to be treated trackside and then moved to the medical center.

Iwema was later air lifted to the Brackenridge University Hospital in Austin for further tests, but he was reported to be in stable conditions and fortunately able to move his arms and legs.

The race was shortened and became a five lap shoot out and the new starting grid was taken from the positions frozen on the 10th lap, which saw Rins back in pole position followed by Maverick Vinales, Luis Salom who was more than 7 seconds from the two leaders before the red flag, while Jonas Folger was more than 15 seconds adrift and he was followed by Alex Marquez, Niklas Ajo, Jack Miller, Miguel Oliveira, and Jasper Kornfeil.

While he was lining up on the starting grid Romano Fenati suffered a technical issue on his FTR Honda and his weekend was over.

When the lights went out it was an all out battle with Salom getting the holeshot in front of Rins and Vinales, but the Team Calvo rider ran wide at turn 10 and found himself in sixth, and then fifth after over taking Alex Marquez who then crashed out in the first lap.

Continue reading: Alex Rins takes maiden victory in interrupted Moto3 race at Austin

This year’s Moto3 title favourite Maverick Vinales will be competing in the opening round of the 2013 Moto3 championship at Losail, Qatar.

The Team Calvo rider lost the tip of his middle finger of his right hand following a crash during the second to last day of testing at Jerez earlier last week, and subsequently was forced to undergo skin graft surgery in Barcelona that had put him in doubt for the night race.

Following two medical follow-ups to check for infection, Viñales has now received the green light from his doctors and will be able to race next weekend.

Yesterday, the Spanish youngster tweeted: “I’m going to be in Qatar! Dr.Mir has given us the ok:)gracias!thank you! Gas!

Photo source | @maverickmack25twitter

When Jorge Lorenzo lost the tip of his finger in during warm-up at Phillip Island in 2011 he was forced to skip the final two races of the season, but Moto3 favourite Maverick Vinales will be fighting to regain fitness in time for the 2013 seaon opener at Losail, Qatar that takes place in just two weeks.

The 18-year old Vinales lost the tip of his ring finger of his right hand when he crashed out at 160km/h during the third day [Wednesday] of the final pre-season test at Jerez last week and the day after underwent skin graft surgery at the Dexeus University Hospital in Barcelona.

In a press conference that was held the following morning in the hospital Vinales, said, “I thought I had blown the World Championship for the year. When I got up and looked at my hand I was so scared, speechless … this is my first injury. I was absolutely on the limit, got the corner wrong and lost it.”

The Team Calvo rider is expected to be at Losail round, and only thing which could prevent him from competing is infection, so he will be undergoing check-ups on Monday and Wednesday of next week and then will be able to start gentle rehabilitation with a phsiotherapist to order to regain fitness.

With Maverick Vinales out of the picture and undergoing surgery today in Barcelona to amputate the finger tip of the third finger of his right hand following his yesterday’s crash at Jerez, Luis Salom posted the fastest overall time during these last four days (they were actually three complete days) of IRTA pre-season testing.

Team Red Bull Ajo rider topped the timesheets with a best lap of 1:46.374, which was two tenths of a second quicker than Viñales had managed on Wednesday, and the new Jerez record for the Moto3 class.

With another Austrian bike and Spanish rider domination, Salom’s overall time was not only faster that Vinales’, but he also managed to block the ever improving Estrella Galicia 0’0’s duo Alex Rins and Alex Marquez who were third and fourth fastest.

Aspar’s Jonas Folger was fifth and the last rider to be within a second from Salom. Mahindra Racing’s Miguel Oliveira and Ambrogio Racing’s Brad Binder followed in 6th and 7th and breaking the KTM bevy of machines that occupied eight out of the ten top spots with their Mahindra and Honda machines. Eric Granado, Niklas Ajo and Jakub Kornfeil closed out the top ten and the Czech rider was 1.480s off pace.

The Moto3 teams will now be heading to Qatar for the opening round of the 2013 season next month.

Continue reading: Luis Salom tops timesheets on final day of Moto3 testing at Jerez

Maverick Vinales was the fastest rider of the day on third day of Moto3 testing at the Jerez circuit, however the Team Calvo rider who is tipped to be this year’s favourite suffered a traumatic injury to his third finger when he crashed out at the Crivillé corner and trapping his hand under his KTM bike.

Apparently the Spanish rider not only lost a nail, but suffered severe lacerations to the top of his finger that it was decided to fly him to Barcelona for further medical checks, and after being examined Dr. Xavier Mir at the Instituto Universitario USP Dexeus, he’ll be forced undergo reconstructive surgery on Thursday, but it seems that his partecipation in the first round of the season is not under discussion.

Vinales’s best lap was in 1:46.603 while Álex Rins who lead the morning session dropped to second and he ended the day just 0.086s adrift from Vinales. Jonas Folger continues to impress both in the wet and dry as finished in third and he was followed by Luis Salom and Brad Binder, who was the only Honda rider able to break up the bevy of dominating KTM and KTM Kalex machines that dominated the top ten.

Estrella Galicia 0,0s Alex Marquez was sixth with Brazilian teenager Eric Granado in 7th. Niklas Ajo was eighth and more that 1.1 seconds adrift followed by Jakub Kornfeil and Arthur Sissis tenth.

Vinales’ crash was the only injury of the day as Moto3 rookie Francesco Bagnaia crashed his Gresini FTR Honda and ended up with a fractured left wrist that will force him to skip the Losail round.

Moto3 testing concludes tomorrow.

Continue reading: Maverick Vinales fastest at on day 3 at Jerez and suffers finger injury

Despite the legal problems that team Laglisse’s owner Jaime Fernandez-Aviles is facing - he was supposed to go prison last week, but his lawyers got him a stay until September, the Spanish squad that will be fielding Maverick Vinales and Ana Carrasco in Moto3 this season, has signed a two-year deal with Calvo Group (high quality canned fish products) who will be their title sponsor.

During the presentation which was held in Madrid - but without the presence of the two riders and Aviles - team manager Pablo Nieto said, “I am very happy to have the support of a company like Calvo in our goal of winning the Moto3 World Championship this season. Maverick has had a flawless pre-season and in his third year in the World Championship has the experience to win the World title. We will do our utmost to make our KTM factory bike work perfectly in each of the 17 Grands Prix rounds and we have high hopes for Ana, as she continues to grow as a rider.”

Enrique Orge, General Director of the European Division of Calvo, commented, “We are very excited about the creation of Team Calvo. It’s a team with a lot future and consists of young promises who undoubtedly will have much to say. It is an innovative team that strives for excellence and quality, values that the Calvo Group totally identifies with “.

After finishing just 7th yesterday in a wet Jerez and not taking any risks, Maverick Vinales returned to top of the timesheets on the second day of Moto3 testing and leading another two Spanish riders in another KTM domination.

In the final session of the day Maverick Vinales lapped in a sensational 1’46″805, but Alex Rins (Monlau Competicion) who sat out yesterday was right on his tail and just 0.006s from the LaGlisse rider, while Luis Salom finished the day in third and was a further three tenths back.

Jonas Folger was fourth, but he left more than nine tenths around the Spanish circuit and he was followed by
Mahindra Racing’s Miguel Oliveira. Moto3 rookie Juanfran Guevara was sixth with his TSR Honda and he actually led the first session of the day, while Brad Binder dropped to seventh after yesterday’s second place and he was just 0.008s quicker than Mahindra’s Efrén Vázquez in 8th.

Continue reading: Maverick Vinales retakes top position on day 2 at Jerez

Maverick Vinales has virtually been untouchable in these three days of testing at Valencia and his 1′39.299 lap has been the benchmark for the rest of the field, and the KTM machine has proved to be the most competitive bike so far, consistently in the top three spots.

However, the fastest rider on the final day of testing was Team Estrella Galicia 0,0s Alex Rins with his 1:39.618 lap followed by Vinales and Luis Salom and Jonas Folger.

The first non KTM rider was Caretta Technology’s Jack Miller with the FTR Honda who moved up fifth and making a big jump forward and he was followed by fellow FTR Honda rider Romano Fenati in sixth, with the Italian rider suffering a crash on the last day. John McPhee climbed up the timesheets to finish in seventh today and 9th overall with Alex Marquez and Efren Vasquez in front of him. While on the combined timesheet Miguel Oliveira was 10th.

Continue reading: Maverick Vinales and KTM rules Valencia Moto3 test