Back on the podium! Strong Cortese in 3rd place on Phillip Island

Sandro Cortese finished one of his strongest Moto2 races in third place. Jonas Folger fought through the Australian Grand Prix with grip problems, but was able to take home ten points.

After his second best Qualifying Practice this season, which he finished in fourth place, and a third place during Warm Up, hopes were up high for Sandro Cortese before the race had even started.

During the first lap of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix Sandro fell back into tenth place, but with lap times that were approximately half a second faster than those of the other riders, he managed to fight his way back to the leading group seven laps before the end of the race. Only a few hundreds of a second were between the 26 year-old and a possible second place or even a first Moto2 victory. In the end he finished in a confident 3rd place behind Tom Lüthi and Franco Morbidelli.

Dynavolt Intact GP colleague Jonas Folger was not as happy with the process of the race. Even though he went into the first lap in second place, he realized quickly that he didn't have a chance to keep up with the pace of the others. With grip problems in the corners the 23 year-old nevertheless managed to finish the 25 laps in place six. With another 10 points earned this meant he maintained his seventh place in the world championship ranking.

It was the fourth podium for Sandro Cortese on his favorite track on Phillip Island, the third podium in Moto2 and the first podium of a difficult 2016 season. After a knee injury and a few unlucky races, the 26 year-old fought back during the second half of the year. After a very good fifth place in Japan last week, he triumphed in Australia today an brought home 16 points, leaving him in place thirteen in the world championship.

The race for more points will continue in Malaysia next week from 28th to 30th October.
Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
Race:
1. Thomas LUTHI / SWI / KALEX
2. Franco MORBIDELLI / ITA / KALEX
3. Sandro CORTESE / GER / KALEX
6. Jonas FOLGER / GER / KALEX

WUP:
1. Franco MORBIDELLI / ITA / KALEX - 1'33.965
2. Sam LOWES / GBR / KALEX - 1'33.978 / +0.013
3. Sandro CORTESE / GER / KALEX - 1'34.070 / +0.105
6. Jonas FOLGER / GER / KALEX - 1'34.297 / +0.332

Standings:
1. ZARCO Johann / FRA / 226
2. LUTHI Thomas / SWI / 204
3. RINS Alex / SPA / 201
4. MORBIDELLI Franco / ITA / 177
5. LOWES Sam / GBR / 162
6. NAKAGAMI Takaaki / JPN / 159
7. FOLGER Jonas / GER / 143
8. BALDASSARRI Lorenzo / ITA / 112
9. SYAHRIN Hafizh / MAL / 106
10. CORSI Simone / ITA / 93
11. AEGERTER Dominique / SWI / 71
12. PASINI Mattia / ITA / 63
13. CORTESE Sandro / GER / 61
14. MARQUEZ Alex / SPA / 60
15. SCHROTTER Marcel / GER / 58
16. PONS Axel / SPA / 55
17. SIMEON Xavier / BEL / 45
18. SIMON Julian / SPA / 40
19. SALOM Luis / SPA / 37
20. OLIVEIRA Miguel / POR / 33