Danny Kent

Danny Kent (born 25 November 1993) is a British motorcycle racer, best known for winning the 2015 Moto3 World Championship. In doing so, Kent became Great Britain's first Grand Prix motorcycle world champion since Barry Sheene in 1977,^[1] as well as the first British lightweight class champion since Dave Simmonds in 1969.^[2] He currently competes in Moto2, with Leopard Racing.^[3]

Career

Early career

Born in Chippenham, Wiltshire, Kent like many others started out in Minimoto, before moving into the FAB-Racing MiniGP50 and MiniGP70 British Championships. Kent progressed through the Aprilia Superteens Championship earning success before being selected for the Red Bull MotoGP Academy and racing in Spain in the Spanish 125GP Championship. When the Academy closed Kent was switched to 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.

125cc/Moto3

Kent at the 2010 British Grand Prix

Kent entered the 125cc world championship with Lambretta in 2010 at the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, qualifying in 16th place, a big improvement on 29th in which he qualified for the British round earlier that year – however he retired from the race. He took a best qualifying position of 10th at the Portuguese Grand Prix in Estoril and a best and only race finish of 21st at Phillip island during the Australian Grand Prix.

For 2011, Kent switched to the Red Bull Ajo Aprilia team to compete in his first full season in the 125cc world championship. Kent enjoyed a successful first season scoring 82 points with a best finish of fourth place, on the way to 11th in the championship standings.

2012 was the start of the Moto3 class. The new formula would use four-stroke 250cc engines apposed to the two-stroke 125cc engines of the class it was replacing. Kent remained with the Red Bull Ajo team however the team switched to running KTM motorcycles spearheading the factory's assault on the tiitle. The team had a fantastic year with Kent's team mate Sandro Cortese taking the world championship along with Kent himself taking fourth in the championship. Kent earned his first podium at Assen in the Dutch TT, and he took his first win at the Japanese Grand Prix at Twin Ring Motegi with a great last lap a result he followed up in similar fashion just four rounds later at the final Grand Prix of the season in Valencia with a brave last corner overtake on Cortese earning him his second Grand Prix victory.

Moto2

For 2013, Kent raced with Tech 3 in the Moto2 category alongside fellow Moto3 graduate Louis Rossi. Kent's season started with a run to 18th place in Qatar, he scored his first points at round six with a 13th-place finish in Catalunya. Kent scored points on four more occasions with a best of 12th at both the Czech and Malaysian races, and had a strong end to season with three consecutive point-scoring finishes before breaking his collarbone in the warm-up for the Japanese Grand Prix, ruling him out for the rest of the season.

Return to Moto3

Kent celebrating victory in the Moto3 race at the 2015 Catalan Grand Prix

Having been originally announced to remain in Moto2 with Tech 3, Kent returned to Moto3 for 2014; he competed with the Ajo Motorsport team, riding a Husqvarna-branded KTM.

For 2015, Kent moved to the Leopard sponsored Kiefer Racing squad, running Hondas.^[4] Kent's season started off well, reaching the podium at the first race in Qatar and taking his first win for Leopard in the following race at the Circuit of the Americas.^[5] Kent won the next two races – the first British rider to win successive races in the lightweight class since Barry Sheene in 1971^[6] – in Argentina and at Jerez to open up a championship lead. He added further victories in Catalunya, the Sachsenring and his home event at Silverstone.

He led the championship by twenty-four points ahead of Miguel Oliveira, with one race remaining. Despite Oliveira winning the final race in Valencia, a ninth-place finish was enough for Kent to claim the championship and become Great Britain's first Grand Prix motorcycle world champion since Barry Sheene in 1977.^[7]

Return to Moto2

On 27 September 2015, it was announced that Kent would be moving up to the Moto2 class for the 2016 season, with his Leopard Racing team.^[3] He was joined in the team by his Moto3 championship rival Miguel Oliveira.^[8]

Personal life

Kent also became part of the Phil Burgan Race Academy (PBRA) – a programme for developing British talent in motorcycle sport, under the guidance of James Toseland. The aim of the programme is to provide support, both financial and consultative, to promising British motorcycle racers and teams of the future.

Career statistics

2001 – Welsh Minimoto – Debut and first win.
2004 – FAB-Racing MiniGP50 British Championship (2nd Overall)
2005 – FAB-Racing MiniGP70 British Championship (1st Overall)
2007 – British Aprilia Superteens Championship
2008 – Invited into Red Bull MotoGP Academy and contested Spanish CEV 125GP (9th overall)
2009 – Academy closed – transferred to the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup (4th overall, 1 win)
2010 – Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup (2nd overall, 2 wins)

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Team	Race	Win	Pod	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
2010	125 cc	Honda	Aztec Grand Prix	1	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2010	125 cc	Lambretta	Lambretta Reparto Corse	5	0	0	0	0	0	NC
2011	125 cc	Aprilia	Red Bull Ajo Motorsport	17	0	0	0	0	82	11th
2012	Moto3	KTM	Red Bull KTM Ajo	17	2	3	1	1	154	4th
2013	Moto2	Tech 3	Tech 3	15	0	0	0	0	16	22nd
2014	Moto3	Husqvarna	Red Bull Husqvarna Ajo	18	0	2	1	0	129	8th
2015	Moto3	Honda	Leopard Racing	18	6	9	5	3	260	1st
2016	Moto2	Kalex	Leopard Racing	17	0	0	0	0	35	22nd
Total				108	8	14	7	4	676

By class

Class	Seas	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
125 cc	2010–2011	2010 Great Britain			23	0	0	0	0	82	0
Moto3	2012, 2014–2015	2012 Qatar	2012 Netherlands	2012 Japan	53	8	14	7	4	543	1
Moto2	2013, 2016	2013 Qatar			32	0	0	0	0	51	0
Total	2010–present				108	8	14	7	4	676	1

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Yr	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	Pos	Pts
2010	125 cc	Honda	QAT	SPA	FRA	ITA	GBR Ret	NED	CAT	GER	CZE	IND	RSM	ARA							NC	0
2010	125 cc	Lambretta													JPN Ret	MAL Ret	AUS 21	POR NC	VAL Ret		NC	0
2011	125 cc	Aprilia	QAT 13	SPA 4	POR 15	FRA 17	CAT 11	GBR 10	NED 6	ITA 15	GER 9	CZE Ret	IND 13	RSM 6	ARA 6	JPN 9	AUS 22	MAL 10	VAL 17		11th	82
2012	Moto3	KTM	QAT 8	SPA Ret	POR 8	FRA Ret	CAT 20	GBR 6	NED 3	GER Ret	ITA 5	IND 12	CZE 7	RSM 12	ARA 4	JPN 1	MAL 6	AUS 5	VAL 1		4th	154
2013	Moto2	Tech 3	QAT 18	AME 17	SPA 26	FRA 15	ITA 21	CAT 13	NED 19	GER Ret	IND 22	CZE 12	GBR 18	RSM 18	ARA 15	MAL 12	AUS 13	JPN DNS	VAL		22nd	16
2014	Moto3	Husqvarna	QAT 13	AME 8	ARG 9	SPA 11	FRA 13	ITA 15	CAT 17	NED 8	GER 5	IND 12	CZE 3	GBR 9	RSM 12	ARA 3	JPN 6	AUS 20	MAL 4	VAL 4	8th	129
2015	Moto3	Honda	QAT 3	AME 1	ARG 1	SPA 1	FRA 4	ITA 2	CAT 1	NED 3	GER 1	IND 21	CZE 7	GBR 1	RSM 6	ARA Ret	JPN 6	AUS Ret	MAL 7	VAL 9	1st	260
2016	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 6	ARG 16	AME Ret	SPA Ret	FRA 19	ITA 14	CAT Ret	NED 14	GER DNS	AUT 12	CZE 7	GBR 15	RSM Ret	ARA 29	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	MAL 18	VAL 9	22nd	35

References

↑ "Oliveira wins race but Kent takes Moto3 title". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 8 November 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
↑ Lewis, Lisa (8 November 2015). "Oliveira wins the race, Kent takes the title". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
1 2 "Kent moves to Moto2 with Leopard Racing". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 27 September 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
↑ Birt, Matthew (19 September 2014). "Danny Kent confident Honda will suit style in Moto3 season". Motor Cycle News. Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
↑ Lewis, Lisa (12 April 2015). "Flawless Kent rules supreme in Austin". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
↑ "British riders break records in Argentina". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015. Danny Kent is the first British rider to win back-to-back races in the lightweight-class (Moto3/125cc) since 1971 when Barry Sheene won at the Swedish 125cc GP at Anderstorp and then a week later won the Finnish GP at Imatra.
↑ "Danny Kent becomes first British motorcycle GP world champion since Sheene". The Guardian. Guardian Media Group. Reuters. 8 November 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2015.
↑ "Miguel Oliveira to Moto2 with Leopard Racing". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 18 October 2015.

External links

Official website

Sporting positions
Preceded by Álex Márquez	Moto3 World Champion 2015	Succeeded by Brad Binder

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Danny Kent.

125cc/Moto3 Motorcycle World Champions

1949 – N. Pagani

1950 – B. Ruffo
1951 – C. Ubbiali
1952 – C. Sandford
1953 – W. Haas
1954 – R. Hollaus
1955 – C. Ubbiali
1956 – C. Ubbiali
1957 – T. Provini
1958 – C. Ubbiali
1959 – C. Ubbiali

1960 – C. Ubbiali
1961 – T. Phillis
1962 – L. Taveri
1963 – H. Anderson
1964 – L. Taveri
1965 – H. Anderson
1966 – L. Taveri
1967 – B. Ivy
1968 – P. Read
1969 – D. Simmonds

1970 – D. Braun
1971 – Á. Nieto
1972 – Á. Nieto
1973 – K. Andersson
1974 – K. Andersson
1975 – P. Pileri
1976 – P. Bianchi
1977 – P. Bianchi
1978 – E. Lazzarini
1979 – Á. Nieto

1980 – P. Bianchi
1981 – Á. Nieto
1982 – Á. Nieto
1983 – Á. Nieto
1984 – Á. Nieto
1985 – F. Gresini
1986 – L. Cadalora
1987 – F. Gresini
1988 – J. Martínez
1989 – À. Crivillé

1990 – L. Capirossi
1991 – L. Capirossi
1992 – A. Gramigni
1993 – D. Raudies
1994 – K. Sakata
1995 – H. Aoki
1996 – H. Aoki
1997 – V. Rossi
1998 – K. Sakata
1999 – E. Alzamora

2000 – R. Locatelli
2001 – M. Poggiali
2002 – A. Vincent
2003 – D. Pedrosa
2004 – A. Dovizioso
2005 – T. Lüthi
2006 – Á. Bautista
2007 – G. Talmácsi
2008 – M. Di Meglio
2009 – J. Simón

2010 – M. Márquez
2011 – N. Terol
2012 – S. Cortese
2013 – M. Viñales
2014 – Á. Márquez
2015 – D. Kent
2016 – B. Binder

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