Moto2 Report
The Moto2 race began with a massive crash in the first turn that would have a profound effect on the outcome of the race.
It was hard to assign blame for what happened, but it appeared there was some overaggressive riding mid-pack which caused a chain reaction that sent eight riders to the ground with several more forced to take evasive action.
Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2) was ahead of the carnage and sped into the lead, unhindered by a broken collarbone which had been mended exactly one week earlier. He was leading on lap two when what would turn out to be a critical mistake took place.
Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up, Speed Up) passed Yuki Takahashi (Tech 3 Racing, Tech 3) under a waving yellow in the turn one crash site, a clear violation. Within a few laps a marshal held a sign with his number and a “-1,” meaning he should move back one position, but it was clear he didn’t know what it meant. His team tried similar communications, both with their arms and with their pit board, but nothing worked and Iannone was assessed a ride-through penalty, which he served on the 16th of 23 laps.
As soon as Iannone pulled into the pit lane, Yuki Takahashi (Tech 3 Racing, Tech 3) took the lead and sped to victory, his first in the MotoGP class and the first for the Tech 3 team. Takahashi also had two wins on a 250. The margin of victory was 5.037s.
Luthi overcame the discomfort of his recently mended collarbone to emerge victorious over Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter). Luthi passed the Spaniard on the 22nd lap and beat him to the flag by .163s.
A spirited battle for fourth went to Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing, FTR) over Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) and Simone Corsi (JIR Moto2, Motobi).
Despite finishing sixth, Elias continues to lead the championship with 111 points. Luthi moved into second with 94, with Simon third at 77. Shoya Tomizawa (Techomag-CIP, Suter), who came to Spain second in the points, crashed on the fifth lap. He’d been relegated to the back of the field after avoiding the first turn disaster.
Now, after three consecutive races, the paddock can take a breather before reconvening at the Sachsenring for the German Grand Prix on the weekend of July 16-18.
MOTO2 RIDER QUOTES
Yuki Takahashi (Tech 3 Racing, Tech 3 – 1st) says: “I am a little bit speechless right now because I expected to be on the podium but this win is like a dream for me. Luckily I got on the front row in qualifying yesterday and that meant I wasn’t involved in the big crash at the first corner. I didn’t have a very good pace in the early laps while I gained some confidence with the front tyre, but once in my rhythm I could easily catch Luthi and Simon. My bike was working fantastic out of the last corner and it meant I could pass them both on the brakes at the first corner. I tried to follow Iannone but it was very difficult. He was riding very fast and I didn’t realise he was penalised for passing me under a yellow flag. My board said P1 even though I was second and for a while it was a little confusing. But when I saw him pull into the pit lane I understood the situation because I’d seen the penalty board and his number but I wasn’t sure what was happening. Then it became incredibly hard to maintain concentration because Iannone was a good reference. I settled down though and could win and it was an amazing feeling. I can’t thank my team at Tech 3 Racing enough. This team is like a family and everybody works incredibly hard. They have unbelievable passion for racing and for me, and this win feels a lot more special than before because it is with a bike we’ve all developed.”
Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2, Moriwaki – 2nd) says: “The whole weekend was hard and brutally hot. With the fresh operation it was not always a nice feeling. We still had a good weekend and could start the race from first row and I finished the race in second place, which was really good. These points are very important for me.”
Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter – 3rd) says: “I haven’t seen what happened at the beginning of the race, but I consider myself lucky to not have been involved in the first corner crash. I was very focused on not losing positions from the start, because that is something that has been a problem for the past two races. I was aggressive on the opening laps, knowing that I had to take advantage of a good pace on fresh tyres. I made a couple of mistakes and let Iannone and Takahashi get away, so from then on I stuck on Luthi’s back tyre and waited for a last lap move. The end of the race was when I was waiting for him to leave an opening, but he was on it and I was left sliding around on worn tyres. I am very happy to have finished third here in Barcelona, after having made a silly mistake last year to miss out on a win. The next race is at a circuit that I love, so I’m very happy.”
Pole position : 1m47.493s (158.309Km/h) Andrea Iannone, Fimmco Speed Up
Fastest lap : Lap 4 – 1m47.543s (158.236Km/h) Andrea Iannone, Fimmco Speed Up
Circuit record lap : 1m47.543s (158.236Km/h) Andrea Iannone, Fimmco Speed Up
Circuit Best Lap : 1m47.493s (158.309Km/h) Andrea Iannone, Fimmco Speed Up
Moto2 – Event Results – Round 7
1 Yuki Takahashi 41m42.451s JAP HONDA Tech 3 Racing
2 Thomas Luthi +5.037s SWI HONDA Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2
3 Julian Simon +5.200s SPA HONDA Mapfre Aspar Team
4 Karel Abraham +6.706s CZE HONDA Cardion AB Motoracing
5 Toni Elias +7.369s SPA HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
6 Simone Corsi +7.414s ITA HONDA JiR Moto2
7 Kenny Noyes +17.010s USA HONDA Jack & Jones by A.Banderas
8 Fonsi Nieto +20.555s SPA HONDA G22 Holiday Gym
9 Anthony West +21.001s AUS HONDA MZ Racing
10 Alex De Angelis +21.369s SMR HONDA RSM Team Scot
11 Gabor Talmacsi +22.213s HUN HONDA Fimmco Speed Up
12 Yonny Hernandez +23.024s COL HONDA Blusens-STX
13 Andrea Iannone +25.297s ITA HONDA Fimmco Speed Up
14 Jules Cluzel +26.674s FRA HONDA Forward Racing
15 Yusuke Teshima +26.796s JPN HONDA JiR Moto2
16 Raffaele De Rosa +27.441s ITA HONDA Tech 3 Racing
17 Arne Tode +27.674s GER HONDA Racing Team Germany
18 Vladimir Ivanov +35.193s RUS HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
19 Jordi Torres +37.424s SPA HONDA MR Griful
20 Valentin Debise +41.504s FRA HONDA WTR San Marino Team
21 Joan Olive +41.710s SPA HONDA Jack & Jones by A.Banderas
22 Claudio Corti +41.966s ITA HONDA Forward Racing
23 Ricard Cardus +49.224s SPA HONDA Viessman Kiefer Racing
24 Xavier Simeon +1m03.470s BEL HONDA G22 Holiday Gym
25 Sergio Gadea +1m12.814s SPA HONDA Tenerife 40 Pons
26 Mashel Al Naimi +1m22.796s QAT HONDA Blusens-STX
27 Carmelo Morales NC – 1 Lap SPA HONDA Tenerife 40 Pons
28 Bernat Martinez NC – 3 Laps SPA HONDA Maquinza-SAG Team
29 Alex Baldolini NC – 4 Laps ITA HONDA Caretta Technology Race Dept
30 Scott Redding NC – 11 Laps GBR HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
31 Ratthapark Wilairot NC – 14 Laps THA HONDA Thai – Honda PTT Singha SAG Team
32 Dani Rivas NC – 19 Laps SPA HONDA MR Griful
33 Shoya Tomizawa NC – 19 Laps JPN HONDA Technomag-CIP
34 Niccolo Canepa NC – 20 Laps ITA HONDA RSM Team Scot
35 Lukas Pesek NC – 20 Laps CZE HONDA Matteoni C.P. Racing
36 Vladimir Leonov NC – 22 Laps RUS HONDA Vector Kiefer Racing
37 Dominique Aegerter NC – 22 Laps SWI HONDA Technomag-CIP
38 Hector Faubel NC – 22 Laps SPA HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
39 Robertino Pietri — VEN HONDA Italtrans S.T.R.
Moto2 Championship Standing
1 Toni Elias 111 pts SPA HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
2 Thomas Luthi 94 pts SWI HONDA Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2
3 Julian Simon 77 pts SPA HONDA Mapfre Aspar Team
4 Shoya Tomizawa 76 pts JPN HONDA Technomag-CIP
5 Andrea Iannone 70 pts ITA HONDA Fimmco Speed Up
6 Simone Corsi 65 pts ITA HONDA JiR Moto2
7 Jules Cluzel 57 pts FRA HONDA Forward Racing
8 Yuki Takahashi 52 pts JAP HONDA Tech 3 Racing
9 Sergio Gadea 47 pts SPA HONDA Tenerife 40 Pons
10 Gabor Talmacsi 42 pts HUN HONDA Fimmco Speed Up
11 Alex Debon 37 pts SPA HONDA Aeroport de Castello – Ajo
12 Ratthapark Wilairot 25 pts THA HONDA Thai – Honda PTT Singha SAG Team
13 Fonsi Nieto 25 pts SPA HONDA G22 Holiday Gym
14 Scott Redding 23 pts GBR HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
15 Karel Abraham 22 pts CZE HONDA Cardion AB Motoracing
16 Roberto Rolfo 21 pts ITA HONDA Italtrans S.T.R.
17 Kenny Noyes 18 pts USA HONDA Jack & Jones by A.Banderas
18 Mike De Meglio 17 pts FRA HONDA Mapfre Aspar Team
19 Yonny Hernandez 15 pts COL HONDA Blusens-STX
20 Dominique Aegerter 15 pts SWI HONDA Technomag-CIP
21 Mattia Pasini 12 pts ITA HONDA JiR Moto2
22 Stefan Bradl 11 pts GER HONDA Viessman Kiefer Racing
23 Alex De Angelis 11 pts SMR HONDA RSM Team Scot
24 Alex Baldolini 9 pts ITA HONDA Caretta Technology Race Dept
25 Xavier Simeon 8 pts BEL HONDA G22 Holiday Gym
26 Anthony West 8 pts AUS HONDA MZ Racing
27 Lukas Pesek 4 pts CZE HONDA Matteoni C.P. Racing
28 Hector Faubel 4 pts SPA HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
29 Arne Tode 2 pts GER HONDA Racing Team Germany
30 Yusuke Teshima 1 pts JPN HONDA JiR Moto2
31 Claudio Corti 1 pts ITA HONDA Forward Racing
32 Yannick Guerra 0 pts SPA HONDA G22 Holiday Gym
33 Vladimir Leonov 0 pts RUS HONDA Vector Kiefer Racing
34 Vladimir Ivanov 0 pts RUS HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
35 Valentin Debise 0 pts FRA HONDA WTR San Marino Team
36 Robertino Pietri 0 pts VEN HONDA Italtrans S.T.R.
37 Ricard Cardus 0 pts SPA HONDA Viessman Kiefer Racing
38 Raffaele De Rosa 0 pts ITA HONDA Tech 3 Racing
39 Niccolo Canepa 0 pts ITA HONDA RSM Team Scot
40 Mashel Al Naimi 0 pts QAT HONDA Blusens-STX
41 Kev Coghlan 0 pts SCO HONDA Monlan Joey Darcey Team
42 Jordi Torres 0 pts SPA HONDA MR Griful
43 Joan Olive 0 pts SPA HONDA Jack & Jones by A.Banderas
44 Ivan Moreno 0 pts SPA HONDA Andalucia Cajasol
45 Dani Rivas 0 pts SPA HONDA MR Griful
46 Carmelo Morales 0 pts SPA HONDA Tenerife 40 Pons
47 Bernat Martinez 0 pts SPA HONDA Maquinza-SAG Team
48 Axel Pons 0 pts SPA HONDA Tenerife 40 Pons
49 Anthony Delhalle 0 pts FRA HONDA Qatar Endurance Racing Team
50 Amadeo Llados 0 pts SPA HONDA Llados Racing Team
