Avintia Racing wunderkind Maverick Vinales took a last-gasp win in today's Moto3 race at Mugello, fighting off local hero Romano Fenati and German Sandro Cortese for the win while Britain's Danny Kent struggled with gearbox problems which dropped him to fifth at the chequered flag.
Kent had run with the leading group and then got tangled up with first his Red Bull Ajo team-mate Cortese and then Louis Rossi, who subsequently crashed, and had to scrap his way back from 11th place to tag back on to the leading group of seven riders.
But as the slipstreaming and fighting began in earnest, the Tetbury teenager experienced troubles with his gearbox as it started to jump between second and third, which unsettled the bike and he dropped off the leading group.
With four laps to go Fenati slipped into second to start attacking Vinales, yet Cortese looked content to stalk the pair in third. The trio stuck together and were nearly wheel-to-wheel heading into the last lap, where Cortese tried to push his way through on turn one. This however let Fenati into the lead, yet Vinales fought straight back. Cortese then muscled his was into second, after which they entered onto the final home straight almost side by side.
In the end it was Vinales who won the drag to the line to take the chequered flag by a mere two hundredths of a second, with Fenati and Cortese completing the podium. Britain's Danny Webb fought to 20th on his Mahindra.
