The ACU would like to congratulate Danny Kent on his sensational achievement on being crowned the 2015 Moto3 World Champion. Kent is Great Britain’s first world champion for 38 years, the last time a Brit won a motorcycling world championship was Barry Sheene in 1977 when he won the second of his two world titles in the 500cc class.
Born in Chippenham,
Wiltshire, Kent started out in minimoto, he progressed through the Aprilia superteens championship earning success before switching to racing in Spain in the Spanish 125GP Championship. Kent also raced in the
Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup, where he finished runner-up in 2010. Kent also contested a wild card ride at Silverstone in 2010 aboard a 125cc Honda, earning him a late ride with Lambretta in the 125cc Grand Prix world championship that year.
Until 2015, Kent had worked primarily with the acclaimed Ajo squad in the lightweight class, but signed with the newly formed Leopard Racing team in 2015. The last Brit to win the lightweight world championship was Dave Simmonds back in 1969.
The Qatar GP was a classic Moto3 race with the top nine finishing the race within a second of each other, Danny finished 3
rd just 0.142s shy of victory. Kent had shown intent and in Austin would show just how fast he could be.
Round 2 of the 2015 MotoGP World Championship saw Kent dominate a Moto3 race like none had done before in the dry. An incredible 8.5-second lead saw Kent win in Austin, the tight and fierce battles of the lightweight class replaced with a faultless ride from the Brit. The Argentinian GP soon after proved Austin was no fluke, Kent winning by 10.3 seconds and extending his lead in the standings.
Jerez would close the field up once again, Kent beating out the Red Bull KTM Ajo duo of Miguel Oliveira and Brad Binder for the win as the trio avoided last corner drama. Moto3 rookie Fabio Quartararo left his braking too late, narrowly avoiding Kent and the rest of the field as he ran wide after a near highside at the famous last corner in Jerez.
Disaster struck for Kent in Le Mans, Qualifying saw riders get just two dry laps before the rain fell. Eager to avoid other riders benefitting from his slipstream, as had become a common occurrence, Kent waited to leave the pits but was unable to set a competitive time and the Brit started down in 31st. What followed was truly the ride of a champion, cutting through the field to fourth, his first time off the podium in 2015.
Round 6 in Mugello was another typically close Moto3™ affair, Oliveira out racing Kent to win by just 0.071 seconds. By this stage of the season the Portuguese KTM rider appeared as Kent’s main title rival, but Kent’s advantage was clear. It was back to winning ways for Kent in Barcelona, holding off hard charging Italian Enea Bastianini.
The rest of the Moto3 field had caught up with Kent’s early season form, battles were close again and Assen was again tight, Kent finishing third with Oliveira first, the championship gap closing slightly. This was followed by a tough weekend in Germany, several crashes limited Kent’s track time but the Leopard Racing rider still secured pole and victory as Oliveira crashed, breaking his wrist ahead of the summer break.
Two tough rounds followed for Kent, Indianapolis saw almost every Moto3 rider pit to change tyres but Kent’s team struggled and he ended down in 21st as Enea Bastianini claimed sixth and began to rapidly reduce Kent's lead. A red-flagged Czech GP would again see Kent’s lead eaten into, with no new tyres the Brit finished seventh as Bastianini battled to second and confirmed himself as a title contender.
After two difficult races, Kent lusted for success at the British GP and pushed to his maximum despite the abhorrent conditions, rewarding the British fans who braved the rain with a dominating 8.5-second victory.
Aragon was a disaster for Kent and Bastianini, both crashing on the last lap and failing to score. Kent headed to Motegi with a mathematical chance of taking the title. Miguel Oliveira, Romano Fenati and Enea Bastianini were all in with a mathematical chance, but a a reduced race in the wet forced Kent to play it safe and wait till the Australian GP. Kent crashed out of the race as Bastianini also fell, Oliveira becoming his only title rival as they went to Sepang. Crossing the line in seventh in Malaysia as Olveiria again won, Kent was forced to wait till Valencia. The Brit needed just two points to secure the title in the last round, with a ninth place finish Kent was crowned the 2015 Moto3 World Championship.