Podium finish for Mahindra in Italian GP

Aspar Mahindra rider Pecco Bagnaia took a third podium finish in the sixth race of the 2016 season

Pecco Bagnaia celebrates after finishing on the podium at the Italian GP.

Aspar Mahindra rider Pecco Bagnaia took a third podium finish in the sixth Moto3 race of the 2016 season, finishing only seven hundredths of a second from a first race win after 20 breathtaking laps at the thrilling Italian GP.

Run at the magnificent Mugello circuit, the race was a close battle. Every lap looked like the first, as a pack of 20 or more riders ran into the first corner four or five abreast. Shoving, scraping and scrapping, the order changed constantly in a spectacular display of world class racing for the capacity crowd.

Second Aspar Mahindra rider Jorge Martin was part of the pack, running as high as eighth place several times, but crossed the line 14th.

Mahindra has a perfect 2016 points record; and Bagnaia’s third time in third place lifted him to fifth overall in the points.

The 19-year- old Italian had set the second-fastest qualifying time, only to be bumped back to the third row for straying minutely over the track limits. Undaunted, he finished the first lap in fifth place and played a leading role in the scrabbling pack for the full race distance.

Robbed of a podium last year by three thousandths of a second, Bagnaia played his cards better this time to cross the line three hundredths of a second behind second-place Fabio Di Giannantonio and six thousandths of a second ahead of Niccolo Antonelli (both Honda). Fifth-placed Fabio Quartararo (KTM) was another two thousandths of a second behind.