Sachsenring Moto3: Pawi gives another wet-weather masterclass
Jamie Klein, News Editor
www. motorsport.comYesterday at 10:05am
Khairul Idham Pawi dominated a wet Moto3 race at the Sachsenring, coming from 20th on the grid to cruise to an untroubled second victory of his Grand Prix career in torrential conditions.
The Malaysian, who also took a straightforward win in similar weather in Argentina, was unstoppable once he hit the front of the pack on the fourth lap.
Pawi brought along his Honda Asia teammate Hiroki Ono with him initially, as the pair established a one-two at the head of the field ahead of John McPhee, Andrea Locatelli and poleman Enea Bastianini.
But Ono dropped to fifth when he had a huge moment that he did brilliantly to save, the Japanese going wide into the gravel but staying mounted on his bike and rejoining safely - although he crashed out for good some laps later.
That gave Pawi a four-second advantage over Locatelli, who had picked off McPhee for second, which he had stretched to 12 by the time the leader suffered a small scare at Turn 1, running wide into the gravel.
The incident barely put a dent in Pawi's lead though, as he went on to cruise to his second win in the first nine races of his Moto3 career by a margin of 11 seconds.
Locatelli was able to break away from his pursuers to score his first ever Grand Prix podium in second, two seconds clear of Bastianini, who passed McPhee and pulled away to seal his second top-three finish in three races.
McPhee was then demoted a further two places by Jakub Kornfeil and rookie Fabio di Giannantonio, the latter beating the Scottish rider to the line by 0.078s.
Seventh went to Jorge Navarro, back from injury after sitting out Assen, the Spaniard cutting Brad Binder's points advantage by one as the South African finished just behind in eighth.
Binder's Red Bull Ajo KTM teammate Bo Bendsneyder starred in the early stages, dicing with Bastianini for the lead prior to Pawi's arrival at the front, but couldn't maintain his pace, the Dutchman slipping to 12th.
Aron Canet, Navarro's Estrella Galicia Honda teammate, also went backwards from his front row grid slot, claiming the final point in 15th - three places ahead of Romano Fenati, who suffered a miserable race.
Crashes for Andrea Migno and Niccolo Bulega rounded off a low-key day for the Sky Racing VR46 team.
For more information go to:Khairul Idham Pawi dominated a wet Moto3 race at the Sachsenring, coming from 20th on the grid to cruise to an untroubled second victory of his Grand Prix career in torrential conditions.
The Malaysian, who also took a straightforward win in similar weather in Argentina, was unstoppable once he hit the front of the pack on the fourth lap.
Pawi brought along his Honda Asia teammate Hiroki Ono with him initially, as the pair established a one-two at the head of the field ahead of John McPhee, Andrea Locatelli and poleman Enea Bastianini.
But Ono dropped to fifth when he had a huge moment that he did brilliantly to save, the Japanese going wide into the gravel but staying mounted on his bike and rejoining safely - although he crashed out for good some laps later.
That gave Pawi a four-second advantage over Locatelli, who had picked off McPhee for second, which he had stretched to 12 by the time the leader suffered a small scare at Turn 1, running wide into the gravel.
The incident barely put a dent in Pawi's lead though, as he went on to cruise to his second win in the first nine races of his Moto3 career by a margin of 11 seconds.
Locatelli was able to break away from his pursuers to score his first ever Grand Prix podium in second, two seconds clear of Bastianini, who passed McPhee and pulled away to seal his second top-three finish in three races.
McPhee was then demoted a further two places by Jakub Kornfeil and rookie Fabio di Giannantonio, the latter beating the Scottish rider to the line by 0.078s.
Seventh went to Jorge Navarro, back from injury after sitting out Assen, the Spaniard cutting Brad Binder's points advantage by one as the South African finished just behind in eighth.
Binder's Red Bull Ajo KTM teammate Bo Bendsneyder starred in the early stages, dicing with Bastianini for the lead prior to Pawi's arrival at the front, but couldn't maintain his pace, the Dutchman slipping to 12th.
Aron Canet, Navarro's Estrella Galicia Honda teammate, also went backwards from his front row grid slot, claiming the final point in 15th - three places ahead of Romano Fenati, who suffered a miserable race.
Crashes for Andrea Migno and Niccolo Bulega rounded off a low-key day for the Sky Racing VR46 team.
Race results:
| Cla | Driver | Bike | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Khairul Idham Pawi | Honda | 47'07.763 |
| 2 |  Andrea Locatelli | KTM | 11.131 |
| 3 | Enea Bastianini | Honda | 13.359 |
| 4 |  Jakub Kornfeil | Honda | 18.541 |
| 5 | Fabio Di Giannantonio | Honda | 20.620 |
| 6 |  John McPhee | Peugeot | 20.698 |
| 7 |  Jorge Navarro | Honda | 20.910 |
| 8 |  Brad Binder | KTM | 23.333 |
| 9 |  Jules Danilo | Honda | 30.318 |
| 10 | Francesco Bagnaia | Mahindra | 31.095 |
| 11 |  Tatsuki Suzuki | Mahindra | 37.688 |
| 12 |  Bo Bendsneyder | KTM | 45.005 |
| 13 | Gabriel Rodrigo | KTM | 47.793 |
| 14 |  Livio Loi | Honda | 48.073 |
| 15 | Aron Canet | Honda | 56.921 |
| 16 | Alexis Masbou | Peugeot | 1'10.787 |
| 17 |  Philipp Ottl | KTM | 1'13.873 |
| 18 | Romano Fenati | KTM | 1'14.813 |
| 19 | Maximilian Kappler | KTM | 1'15.203 |
| 20 | Stefano Valtulini | Mahindra | 1'15.434 |
| 21 | Tim Georgi | KTM | 1'23.906 |
| 22 | Danny Webb | Mahindra | 1'38.548 |
| 23 | Fabio Quartararo | KTM | 1 Lap |
| R | Nicolo Bulega | KTM | 13 Laps |
| R | Adam Norrodin | Honda | 15 Laps |
| R | Hiroki Ono | Honda | 16 Laps |
| R | Jorge Martin | Mahindra | 17 Laps |
| R | Andrea Migno | KTM | 17 Laps |
| R | Darryn Binder | Mahindra | 19 Laps |
| R | Juan Francisco Guevara | KTM | 19 Laps |
| R | Lorenzo Petrarca | Mahindra | 20 Laps |
| R | Joan Mir | KTM |
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THE STAR
PETALING JAYA: Rookie Khairul Idham Pawi is the undisputed master of the wet.
The 17-year-old Malaysian put up a wonderful ride to claim his second Moto3 win of the season at the German Motorcycle Grand Prix at the Sachsenring Circuit on Sunday.
Khairul, who is from Kampong Gajah in Perak, gave the fans a glimpse of things to come when he topped the morning warm-up session on a rainy day in the ninth round of the World Championship.
As rain continued to hammer down on the track for the race proper, the Honda Team Asia rider successfully pulled off a breathtaking move to shoot from 20th on the grid to seventh by the end of the opening lap.
By the fifth lap, Khairul was in front. And he superbly negotiated the wet and treacherous track to win the 27-lap race by a massive 11.131 seconds.
Khairul crossed the finish line in 47:07.763 with Italian Andrea Locatelli second in 47:18.894.
Pole-sitter Enea Bastianini of Italy settled for third in 47:21.122.
Fellow Malaysian Adam Norrodin of SIC Racing Team did not finish the race after he crashed on lap 15.
Khairul, popularly known as Super KIP, made history when he won the Argentina Grand Prix, the second round of the championship, under wet conditions in early April. He was the first-ever Malaysian to win a race in the World Championship.
On Sunday, Khairul was his daredevil self again. He was instructed by team manager and former racer Tadayuki Okada to slow down on lap 14 after he ran off the track. But the youngster continued to push on relentlessly until the end.
“Syukur Alhamdulilah, I am happy and grateful for this win. I only wanted to go for championship points, but as it continued to rain I knew I had a chance to do well.
“This is a difficult circuit and I am thankful everything worked out well in the end.
“Many thanks to my crew members. This victory is for my loved ones and the Malaysians back home who support me,” said Khairul who is now 10th overall with 54 points.
In Moto2, Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah also performed well to finish seventh. The Petronas Raceline rider completed the 29-lap race in 48:00.588. He is seventh overall with 69 points.
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