SKY Racing Team VR46's Celestino Vietti poses with a trophy on the podium as he celebrates after winning the Moto3 race. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Le Mans, France: Italian teenager Celestino Vietti shrugged off a warm-up crash, his third of the weekend, to win the French Moto3 Grand Prix at Le Mans on Sunday.
The 18-year-old held off his compatriot Tony Arbolino and new championship leader Albert Arenas on the last lap for his second career win from 33 Moto3 starts.
"It was a strange race, I didn't expect this result," said the KTM rider, now third in the championship on 119 points, 16 shy of Arenas with five races left.
"It was difficult to overtake - I'm very happy, we handled the race well," added Vietti whose debut win in the category came at Spielberg in the Styrian Grand Prix in August.
Spaniard Arenas was already looking forward to the next two races at his home Aragon circuit.
"I like Aragon, I'll continue (my world title bid) from there," said the 23-year-old who moved to the top of the standings on 135 points.
Splitting Arenas and Vietti in the Moto3 title race is Honda's Japanese rider Ai Ogura, who led the championship before this 10th leg of the coronavirus-disrupted season, but after his ninth place finish now trails Arenas by six points.
