It was a strong showing by the Honda NSF250RW riders today in Argentina, with them claiming five of the top-ten places, but it was Leopard Racing’s Adrian Fernandez who snatched second place in the final corner of the last lap. 

The Spaniard, who had started from the fourth row of the grid, rapidly made his way through the pack to be in the podium fight for the majority of the Moto3 race at Termas de Rio Hondo. Although Fernandez looked out of the running on the last lap, a final corner lunge saw him cross the line 0.036 seconds behind race winner Angel Piqueras and claim his fifth podium in eight races.

Taiyo Furusato was another rider who managed to fight back after a disappointing Qualifying result, the Honda Team Asia rider battling hard for the lead at the same circuit that he made his debut at three years ago. At the end of the 18 laps, Furusato crossed the line in fourth place, but unfortunately was demoted one place as he was deemed to have exceeded track limits on the final lap.

David Almansa (Leopard Racing), who had led the race early on, found himself the victim of the powerful slipstream that was affecting the lightweight riders on the 1.1km long back street. He ended the race in sixth place, while SIC58 Squadra Corse duo Luca Lunetta and Stefano Nepa joined him in the top-ten, in seventh and tenth respectively.

Further back Eddie O’Shea (GRYD – MLav Racing) crossed the line in 17^th place, with Riccardo Rossi (Rivacold Snipers Team) in 18^th after a long lap penalty, while team-mate Nicola Carraro was 19^th and Honda Team Asia’s Tatchakorn Buasri, who also had to serve a long lap penalty, was 21^st. Unfortunately, Marcos Uriarte’s (GRYD – MLav Racing) race came to an end on lap 13 after a Turn 11 crash.

The next event for the Moto3 riders will be the Grand Prix of The Americas, at the Circuit of the Americas, where action will commence on 28 March.