2015 Assen Moto2 Results
Round eight of the 2015 Moto2 Championship at the TT Circuit Assen began under the worst possible condition – a first-lap red flag.
The frowned-upon waving red at 2015 Assen Moto2 was due to an incident involving Marcel Schrotter, Anthony West and Luis Salom. The latter crashed hard, and his Paginas Amarillas HP40 Kalex caught on fire and spewed oil on the 2.82-mile Assen TT Circuit in the Netherlands, which ultimately caused the red flag. Salom would suffer a DNF. West would restart, but suffer a crash with Lorenzo Baldassari five laps into the restarted race.
After the restart, 2015 Assen Moto2 came down to a battle between the man leading the points heading into the Dutch TT Moto2 event – Ajo Motorsport’s Johann Zarco – and the reigning Moto2 Champion, Marc VDS Racing’s Esteve “Tito” Rabat.
And when 2015 Assen Moto2 wrapped up, Zarco would retain – and extend – his points lead. The Frenchman would earn his third win of 2015 Moto2, and finish 0.757 of a second ahead of Rabat. Taking the final podium finish 2.080 behind Zarco was Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes.
Starting from pole, Zarco had some issues and feel back a few positions. AGR Team’s Jonas Folger took the holeshot, and immediately opened a lead on the man in second, Rabat.
But Zarco was already challenging Rabat on lap four of 2015 Assen Moto2, and the two made contact, pushing Zarco wide. These gave Rabat some breathing room as he chased down Folger and took the lead on lap 8. But a few moments later Zarco would do the same, and began chasing down Rabat.
When Zarco passed Folger for second, Rabat was 0.5 of a second ahead. But with three laps remaining, Zarco caught up and gave Rabat a small “nudge” as he took the lead. He immediately opened a gap and would take the win 2015 Assen Moto2 by 0.757 of a second. Lowes would battle his was to third, finishing 2.080 seconds back.
Paginas Amarillas HP40’s Alex Rins finished fourth, 3.738 seconds behind Zarco. Derendinger Racing Interwetten Kalex’s Thomas Luthi earned fifth, 4.530 second back, and Federal Oil Gresini Moto2’s Xavier Simeon sixth, 5.045 seconds adrift.
Folger faded to seventh, followed by Italtrans Racing Team’s Mika Kallio, Marc VDS Racing’s Alex Marquez, and Athina Forward Racing’s Simone Corsi.
Louis Rossi, Ricky Cardus and Florian Alt also recorded DNF’s, with Luis Salom not able to take his place on the grid for the re-started race due to the damage to his bike from the red flag incident.
Following 2015 Assen Moto2 Zarco now has 159 pints, and events his lead to 45 points ahead of Rabat. Lowes is in third with 96 points.
The series now breaks for two weeks before heading to Sachsenring in Germany for round nine of 18.
2015 Assen Moto2 Results
1 | 25 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | FRA | Ajo Motorsport | Kalex | 166.2 | 26’13.410 |
2 | 20 | 1 | Tito RABAT | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 166.1 | +0.757 |
3 | 16 | 22 | Sam LOWES | GBR | Speed Up Racing | Speed Up | 166.0 | +2.080 |
4 | 13 | 40 | Alex RINS | SPA | Paginas Amarillas HP 40 | Kalex | 165.8 | +3.738 |
5 | 11 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SWI | Derendinger Racing Interwetten | Kalex | 165.7 | +4.530 |
6 | 10 | 19 | Xavier SIMEON | BEL | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Kalex | 165.7 | +5.045 |
7 | 9 | 94 | Jonas FOLGER | GER | AGR Team | Kalex | 165.6 | +6.140 |
8 | 8 | 36 | Mika KALLIO | FIN | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 165.4 | +8.105 |
9 | 7 | 73 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 165.3 | +8.376 |
10 | 6 | 3 | Simone CORSI | ITA | Athinà Forward Racing | Kalex | 165.2 | +9.670 |
11 | 5 | 60 | Julian SIMON | SPA | QMMF Racing Team | Speed Up | 165.0 | +11.749 |
12 | 4 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | Technomag Racing Interwetten | Kalex | 164.4 | +17.537 |
13 | 3 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 164.3 | +18.104 |
14 | 2 | 4 | Randy KRUMMENACHER | SWI | JIR Racing Team | Kalex | 164.1 | +20.468 |
15 | 1 | 55 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | MAL | Petronas Raceline Malaysia | Kalex | 164.0 | +20.894 |
16 | 25 | Azlan SHAH | MAL | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 163.9 | +22.405 | |
17 | 11 | Sandro CORTESE | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 163.8 | +22.930 | |
18 | 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Tech 3 | Tech 3 | 163.6 | +25.663 | |
19 | 21 | Franco MORBIDELLI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 163.0 | +30.931 | |
20 | 70 | Robin MULHAUSER | SWI | Technomag Racing Interwetten | Kalex | 162.6 | +35.014 | |
21 | 2 | Jesko RAFFIN | SWI | sports-millions-EMWE-SAG | Kalex | 162.6 | +35.289 | |
22 | 49 | Axel PONS | SPA | AGR Team | Kalex | 161.6 | +44.794 | |
23 | 10 | Thitipong WAROKORN | THA | APH PTT The Pizza SAG | Kalex | 161.3 | +47.633 | |
24 | 15 | Ratthapark WILAIROT | THA | JPMoto Malaysia | Suter | 160.7 | +54.049 | |
25 | 13 | Jasper IWEMA | NED | Abbink GP | Speed Up | 159.1 | +1’10.079 | |
Not Classified | ||||||||
7 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | ITA | Athinà Forward Racing | Kalex | 164.4 | 5 Laps | ||
95 | Anthony WEST | AUS | QMMF Racing Team | Speed Up | 164.3 | 5 Laps | ||
96 | Louis ROSSI | FRA | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | Tech 3 | 162.3 | 7 Laps | ||
88 | Ricard CARDUS | SPA | Tech 3 | Tech 3 | 162.2 | 11 Laps | ||
Not Finished 1st Lap | ||||||||
66 | Florian ALT | GER | E-Motion IodaRacing Team | Suter | 0 Lap | |||
Not Starting | ||||||||
39 | Luis SALOM | SPA | Paginas Amarillas HP 40 | Kalex | 0 Lap |