Moto2: Point Leaders Preview German GP

Moto2 Germany

With the halfway point almost reached in the first-ever Moto2 World Championship, the situation at the top of the motorcycle racing points chase is getting tighter.

Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2, Moriwaki) seized the series lead with wins in the Spanish and French GPs back in May, but the Spaniard hasn’t won a race since, and at the last four events he has been out-performed by Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2, Moriwaki).

The Swiss rider has yet to score a win in the Honda-powered series, but he goes into the German round on the back of three consecutive podium results, despite a dislocated and broken collarbone. Luthi is currently 17 points behind Elias.

Consistency is also paying dividends for Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter) whose third place at Catalunya promoted him to third place in the championship. Like Luthi, Simon has yet to win a Moto2 race, but there is every chance he will be in the running for victory in Germany.

Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP) and Simon are separated by just a single point on 77 and 76 respectively.

Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) sitting on 70 points is desperate to make up for the error which cost him what looked like a certain podium finish at Catalunya.

He was fastest at the private test at Aragón last week however, proving that he is constantly ready for action and he will be going for a third win of the season. Fellow Italian Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2) is sixth in the overall classification, just five points further back.

There will be two wildcard riders in the form of Xavier Simeon (Holiday Gym Racing) and Sascha Hommel (MGM Racing Performance MC). Damian Cudlin will be a substitute for the injured Axel Pons on the Tenerife 40 Pons team.

Moto2 Rider Quotes

Toni Elias (Gresini Racing Moto2 rider) says: “After Barcelona I was very disappointed but after the tests we did at the circuit of Aragon, I found confidence. We go to Germany having found a good feeling with the bike and hoping to find the competitiveness that will enable us to continue to believe in the goals we have promised to get to the end of this season.”

“We are a team that never gives up and I’m sure that we will overcome in the best way this difficult time and quickly score some results that we know are within our reach.”

Thomas Luthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2, Moriwaki) says: “As always I hope I can attack the Sachsenring circuit from the front group again. I don’t have the reason yet to hope for the world title. There are still many races to come, but I really hope I can continue with the form of the last races.”

“Also the Sachsenring circuit, where I rode so many times in so many different classes and championships, is a new track with the Moto2 bike and we all have to learn it first, but if we can use some of the settings we found in Aragón at the two days of testing, I hope we can get in front.”

“The fans at the circuit there are awesome and I am looking forward to hear them cheer for us. I just hope that I will survive the first corner as it could get very tight there.”

Julian Simon (Mapfre Aspar Team, Suter) says: “Like many of the other Moto2 guys, we were able to go testing at Aragon before travelling to Germany. That gave us the time not only to learn a new circuit, but also to work on our general bike set-up.”

“This is still a very new series, so we learn more every time we go out on track, so two days of testing was very valuable, even if I did have a crash on the first day! I hope we can have another good weekend like we had at Catalunya and at Silverstone, but I know it will be difficult, because this class is so close and the Sachsenring is so tight.”

“The first corner is going to be very busy on Sunday! I won the 125 race there last year, but the track will be very different on a Moto2 bike.”

Moto2 Championship
1. Toni Elias 111
2. Thomas Luthi 94
3. Julian Simon 77
4. Shoya Tomizawa 76
5. Andrea Iannone 70
6. Simone Corsi 65
7. Jules Cluzel 57
8. Yuki Takahashi 52
9. Sergio Gadea 47
10. Gabor Talmacsi 42

The German GP will always hold a special place in Honda’s memory, because it was on German tarmac that the marque scored its maiden premier-class victory at Hockenheim in May 1966. The German GP is now staged at the Sachsenring in an area of Germany that has a strong tradition of motorcycle design and manufacture going back to the early days of the 20th century.

This year one of the region’s most famous motorcycling names makes a return to GP racing after an absence of more than three decades. MZ (Motorradwerk Zschopau) was based in nearby Zschopau and was famous for its smaller-capacity two-strokes in the 1960s and 1970s, but later pulled out of racing. This year the recently reborn company has returned to GP racing to contest Moto2 with Australian rider Anthony West.

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