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Bagnaia eyes second in Moto3 standings after another podium

Aspar Mahindra's Francesco Bagnaia has set his sights on finishing second in the Moto3 world championship, after another podium in Silverstone weekend.

Podium: second place Francesco Bagnaia, Aspar Team Mahindra

Podium: second place Francesco Bagnaia, Aspar Team Mahindra

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Francesco Bagnaia, Aspar Team Mahindra
Francesco Bagnaia, Aspar Team Mahindra, Niccolo Antonelli, Ongetta-Rivacold
Second place Francesco Bagnaia, Aspar Team Mahindra
Jorge Martin, Aspar Team Mahindra
Albert Arenas, Peugeot MC Saxoprint
Podium: race winner Brad Binder, Red Bull KTM Ajo, second place Francesco Bagnaia, Aspar Team Mahindra, third place Bo Bendsneyder, Red Bull KTM Ajo
Stefano Manzi, Mahindra Racing
Stefano Manzi, Mahindra Racing
John McPhee, Peugeot MC Saxoprint
Fabio Spiranelli, CIP

The Italian moved to third in the standings with 110 points chasing second-placed Jorge Navarro, who is mere eight points ahead, with six rounds remaining in the season.

"I am very happy for the result because in Brno it was difficult for me to go fast on all the three days and here [Silverstone] from the FP1 I was fast, [especially] in the wet," he started.

"On the final lap, I thought I could win, I was strong in the final sector and [was] getting good exit from the last corner.

"If it wasn't for the attack from [Bo] Bendsneyder on the final lap, I think I could have passed [Brad] Binder, but finishing second is very important for me and my team.

"Now I am third in the championship with eight point to Navarro, my objective is to get the second position, that would be really [good]," the VR46 academy rider added.

Meanwhile, Jorge Martin faced acceleration issues midway in the race which limited his performance, as he dropped back from the lead pack to eventually finish 11th.

Wildcard Manzi impresses

With Bagnaia involved in the victory fight, wildcard entrant Stefano Manzi from nowhere put himself in the battle for podium, after having started from the last row in 34th.

The Italian teen rode a fantastic race to bring himself in the podium contention in only his second world championship outing this season to finish fourth, 0.451s off from the rostrum position.

“Starting from the last row, I didn’t have high expectations. [In the race] I managed to get up to the top group and battle with them comfortably," he said.

"I really thought I had a chance of a podium until I had the coming together with Navarro. I am so sorry that he and [Andrea] Migno fell.

"I lost a bit of time then, but I am really happy with the result. The team did a fantastic job and the bike was perfect everywhere on the track, slow or fast," he added.

Difficult race for rest

Behind the three points finishers, Brno's race winner John McPhee had a torrid time to end 18th with Platinum Bay's Darryn Binder in 22nd.

The other wildcard Marco Bezzecchi was 25th, ahead CIP's Tatsuki Suzuki while his teammate Fabio Spiranelli ended 28th, as Team Italia's Lorenzo Petrarca 29th was the last of Indian marque's finishers.

Among the riders who were unable to finish the race were Team Italia's Stefano Valtulini, Platinum Bay's Marcos Ramirez and Peugeot's Albert Arenas.

Additional reporting by Jamie Klein

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