France Moto2
It was quite the celebration for one Spaniard after the Le Mans Moto2 race in France.
After displaying much discipline around the French circuit, Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol’s Marc Marquez took his first victory in the Moto2 class. But it wasn’t only the win that Marquez celebrated; the 18-year-old also took his maiden Moto2 victory during his 50th Grand Prix start.
Th 2010 125cc MotoGP Champion was joined on the podium by Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) held off Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing).
This was Marquez’s first taste of points in the Moto2 class; before Le Mans, Marquez failed to garner any Moto2 points.
Following is the official Le Mans Moto2 report from MotoGP:
Marquez who had failed to finish in the first three races of the year and had zero points to his name, fought through a gaggle of riders to take the leading spot from Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) in the final laps.
As drops of rain began to fall in the final six laps, under thick black clouds as darkness fell over the circuit, the reigning 125cc World Champion, quickly pulled an advantage and crossed the line just under two seconds ahead of Takahashi to secure his 11th win in Grand Prix.
The Gresini Racing rider, claimed his first back to back rostrum finish in his career with second place, after he had snuck past Bradl towards the end of the race and then began his dice with eventual race winner. Championship leader and pole sitter Bradl, had led from the start of the race but after the Swiss rider had overtaken him on lap 15, the Japanese rider sent the German rider wide which then allowed Márquez through into a rostrum position. The Kalex rider maintains his lead in the championship standings, with a 28 point gap over his nearest rival.
Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) demoted Luthi to fifth position on the final lap. The Swiss rider who has still yet to achieve his first victory in the Moto2 class after 20 starts and 47 races in the 250cc class, was unable to pull away at the front when he was originally leading and was caught and passed. Aleix Espargaro (Pons HP 40) achieved his best result of the season with sixth place, after his best result had been 11th in Qatar this season. The Spaniard had been part of the leading group for the first half of the race but faded as the race went on.
Seveth went to Simone Corsi (Ioda Racing Project) who was involved in a fight with Bradley Smith (Tech 3) who finished eighth. The British rider made up many positions at the start to claim more points in his rookie Moto2 season. Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) continued his good form from Estoril with ninth place, ahead of Alex de Angelis (JiR Moto2) in tenth.
Race results continue to elude Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) who dropped down to 12th on lap one from his second row start and eventually finished in 16th place. American Kenny Noyes (Avintia-STX) was one place behind in 17th with Australian Anthony West (MZ Racing) in 25th and Scotsman Kev Coghlan (Team Aeroport de Castelló) 27th.
Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) who was second in the championship at the start of this race, crashed out on lap one, the Italian rider was unhurt. The only other rider to crash on the first lap of the race was Santiago Hernández (SAG Team) who had a huge highside. Mika Kallio (Marc VDS Racing) retired in the early stages with a clutch problem. Ricky Cardús (QMMF Racing Team) was a non-finisher after crashing in he latter stages, as was Axel Pons (Pons HP 40).
2011 Le Mans Moto2 Results:
Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | 25 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SPA | Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol | Suter | 151.6 | 43’03.308 |
2. | 20 | 72 | Yuki TAKAHASHI | JPN | Gresini Racing Moto2 | Moriwaki | 151.5 | +1.982 |
3. | 16 | 65 | Stefan BRADL | GER | Viessmann Kiefer Racing | Kalex | 151.5 | +2.237 |
4. | 13 | 60 | Julian SIMON | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | Suter | 151.5 | +2.349 |
5. | 11 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SWI | Interwetten Paddock Moto2 | Suter | 151.5 | +2.609 |
6. | 10 | 40 | Aleix ESPARGARO | SPA | Pons HP 40 | Pons Kalex | 150.9 | +12.295 |
7. | 9 | 3 | Simone CORSI | ITA | Ioda Racing Project | FTR | 150.5 | +18.739 |
8. | 8 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | Technomag-CIP | Suter | 150.5 | +18.918 |
9. | 7 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | GBR | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 150.4 | +20.408 |
10. | 6 | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | RSM | JIR Moto2 | Motobi | 150.4 | +20.566 |
11. | 5 | 16 | Jules CLUZEL | FRA | NGM Forward Racing | Suter | 150.3 | +23.225 |
12. | 4 | 4 | Randy KRUMMENACHER | SWI | GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing | Kalex | 150.3 | +23.359 |
13. | 3 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | SPA | HP Tuenti Speed Up | FTR | 150.3 | +23.676 |
14. | 2 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | ITA | Gresini Racing Moto2 | Moriwaki | 150.2 | +24.756 |
15. | 1 | 76 | Max NEUKIRCHNER | GER | MZ Racing Team | MZ-RE Honda | 150.2 | +25.063 |
16. | 45 | Scott REDDING | GBR | Marc VDS Racing Team | Suter | 149.9 | +29.587 | |
17. | 9 | Kenny NOYES | USA | Avintia-STX | FTR | 149.7 | +32.803 | |
18. | 19 | Xavier SIMEON | BEL | Tech 3 B | Tech 3 | 149.7 | +32.997 | |
19. | 35 | Raffaele DE ROSA | ITA | Desguaces La Torre G22 | Moriwaki | 149.7 | +33.273 | |
20. | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | COL | Blusens-STX | FTR | 149.6 | +34.837 | |
21. | 34 | Esteve RABAT | SPA | Blusens-STX | FTR | 149.6 | +35.765 | |
22. | 71 | Claudio CORTI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Suter | 149.2 | +41.502 | |
23. | 75 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Ioda Racing Project | FTR | 148.8 | +49.702 | |
24. | 14 | Ratthapark WILAIROT | THA | Thai Honda Singha SAG | FTR | 148.7 | +50.198 | |
25. | 13 | Anthony WEST | AUS | MZ Racing Team | MZ-RE Honda | 148.7 | +50.789 | |
26. | 54 | Kenan SOFUOGLU | TUR | Technomag-CIP | Suter | 148.7 | +51.362 | |
27. | 49 | Kev COGHLAN | GBR | Aeroport de Castello | FTR | 148.7 | +51.471 | |
28. | 53 | Valentin DEBISE | FRA | Speed Up | FTR | 148.1 | +1’01.904 | |
29. | 21 | Javier FORES | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 | Suter | 147.4 | +1’14.039 | |
30. | 39 | Robertino PIETRI | VEN | Italtrans Racing Team | Suter | 147.4 | +1’14.338 | |
31. | 95 | Mashel AL NAIMI | QAT | QMMF Racing Team | Moriwaki | 146.6 | +1’28.827 | |
32. | 8 | Alexander CUDLIN | AUS | QMMF Racing Team | Moriwaki | 146.5 | +1’29.889 | |
Not Classified | ||||||||
63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | FRA | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 150.2 | 2 Laps | ||
80 | Axel PONS | SPA | Pons HP 40 | Pons Kalex | 149.9 | 3 Laps | ||
88 | Ricard CARDUS | SPA | QMMF Racing Team | Moriwaki | 149.5 | 7 Laps | ||
97 | Steven ODENDAAL | RSA | MS Racing | Suter | 143.8 | 12 Laps | ||
25 | Alex BALDOLINI | ITA | NGM Forward Racing | Suter | 149.0 | 15 Laps | ||
36 | Mika KALLIO | FIN | Marc VDS Racing Team | Suter | 122.6 | 22 Laps | ||
29 | Andrea IANNONE | ITA | Speed Master | Suter | 0 Lap | |||
64 | Santiago HERNANDEZ | COL | SAG Team | FTR | 0 Lap |