Vinales Wins Moto3 Wold Championship on KTM
OutdoorHub 11.11.13
Spain’s Maverick Vinales emerged triumphant in the 2013 Moto3 World Championship in a cliff-hanger finish to the season that gave KTM its second consecutive world title since the introduction of the discipline in 2012.
KTM riders finished top four in the championship with Alex Rins, Luis Salom and Alex Marquez finishing behind Vinales in that order. The final round saw Vinales on the podium with Kalex-KTM rider Jonas Folger of Germany in second and Rins in third.
KTM CEO Stefan Pierer and Pit Beirer, Head of KTM Motorsports were at the race to see KTM take its second title.
Pit Beirer: “It was incredible to be here to see these three guys on the KTMs fight it out for the title and it was impossible to tell which one of these would be the winner. It has been another great racing season for KTM. In the end it was Maverick who stayed calm at the right moment and managed to win and we give him our warm and sincere congratulations for a job well done. I think this also proves that KTM delivers equal quality and material to our customer teams as well as our own factory team.”
Vinales won the title with his third race victory of the season in a result that was decided in the last corners on the Valencia circuit in front of 90,000 euphoric Spanish fans. It was always going to be a fight to the last between the three title contenders. Luis Salom of the Red Bull KTM Ajo Factory Team went into the race as the points leader but he, Vinales and Rins were only 5 points apart.
After playing cat and mouse with Vinales and Rins for the first 14 of 24 laps it was disaster and disappointment for Salom who crashed out. He scrambled back into the race but eventually finished fourteenth, fighting for points right to the end. If something had happened between Vinales and Rins at the front, he was still in with a chance to take the title. Salom was generous with his congratulations of the new champion and can still be satisfied with a top season where he was the winningest rider in the discipline.
Vinales, a recognized talent in the discipline ended his final season by taking the title with just three race wins. Salom won seven and Rins won six races with the Spanish National Anthem being played at all races. Vinales and Salom now move up to Moto2 as teammates in 2014 while Rins, the youngest of the three will complete another season in Moto3.
Salom’s place in the Red Bull KTM Ajo Factory Team is being taken by Australian Jack Miller, who races with Karel Hanika, the 2013 Red Bull Rookies MotoGP Cup winner and Danny Kent of the UK who returns to the team where he raced in 2012.
Riders of the KTM Moto3 bike dominated the 2013 season making it a very clear victory in the Manufacturer’s title with KTM taking 425 points in front of Kalex-KTM with 191 and Mahindra in third place with 173.
MotoGP of Valencia – Comunitat Valenciana Circuit – Round 17
Moto3 Results
1, Maverick Viñales, Spain, KTM, 40:12.463
2, Jonas Folger, Germany, Kalex KTM, 40:12.649
3, Alex Rins, Spain, KTM, 40:12.650
4, Alex Marquez, Spain, KTM, 40:26.129
5, Efren Vazquez, Spain, Mahindra, 40:26.171
6, Alexis Masbou, France, FTR Honda, 40:41.050
7, Isaac Viñales, Spain, FTR Honda, 40:41.239
8, Ana Carrasco, Spain, KTM, 40:41.257
9, Philipp Oettl, Germany, Kalex KTM, 40:41.416
10, Miguel Oliveira, Portugal, Mahindra, 40:41.648
Other KTM
13, Zulfahmi Khairuddin, Malaysia, KTM, 40:43.129
14, Luis Salom, Spain, KTM, 40:46.616
16, Jakub Kornfeil, Czech Republic, Kalex KTM, 40:50.519
17, Eric Granado, Brazil, Kalex KTM, 40:50.950
18, Arthur Sissis, Australia, KTM, 40:54.826
21, Jasper Iwema, Netherlands, Kalex KTM, 40:57.083
24, Toni Finsterbusch, Germany, Kalex KTM, 41:25.830
26, Florian Alt, Germany, Kalex KTM, 41:27.723
DNF, Livio Loi, Belgium, Kalex KTM, 20:29.541
DNF, Niklas Ajo, Finland, KTM, 18:39.420
Moto3 Standings after Round 17
1, M. Viñales, 323 (World Champion)
2, Rins, 311
3, Salom, 302
4, Marquez, 213
5, Folger, 183
6, Oliveira, 150
7, Miller, 110
8, Masbou, 94
9, Vazquez, 82
10, Fenati, 73
Other KTM
11, Kornfeil, 68
12, Khairuddin, 68
14, Ajo, 62
15, Sissis, 59
18, Oettl, 34
21, Carrasco, 9
22, Loi, 8
24, Iwema, 8
25, Granado, 7
Moto3 Manufacturers Standings after Round 17
1, KTM, 425
2, Kalex KTM, 191
3, Mahindra, 173
