Estoril Moto2: Portugal Grand Prix Preview

MotoGP News

Toni Elias crowning as inaugural Moto2 World Champion in Malaysia may have ended the chase for the 2010 title, but the battle for runner-up spot is still very much alive with two rounds remaining.

This MotoGP weekend at the bwin Grande Premio de Portugal both Julian Simon and Andrea Iannone will be aiming to improve their individual chances of taking the honor with strong results.

Champion Elias has a solid record at Estoril having won three times previously there (250cc in 2003 and 2004 and MotoGP in 2006), but the focus will undoubtedly be on the two riders who sit further back in the standings.

Just two points separate Mapfre Aspar’s Simon and his Fimmco Speed Up rival Iannone in second and third position, with Swiss rider Thomas Luthi of the Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 team also still holding a mathematical chance of ending the campaign in second as he sits 36 points off Iannone and in fourth.

Neither Simon or Iannone have scored a podium finish at Estoril before with the Spaniard’s fifth place in the 125cc class in 2006 his best result there to date. His Italian counterpart has not had a top-ten finish in four previous starts at the track, with 11th in 2008 his best result to date. Luthi meanwhile took a podium finish on his way to the 2005 125cc title and has finished fourth twice in the past three seasons in the former 250cc category.

Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2) is currently fifth in the Championship and enjoyed a dominant 125cc visit to Estoril in 2008 taking victory from pole, whilst his team-mate Alex de Angelis is fresh off the back of his first win in the Moto2 campaign having tasted success in Australia.

Another rider also in good form is young Brit Scott Redding who took his Suter Moto2 machine of the Marc VDS Racing Team to a season’s best finish of second at Phillip Island, and who has qualified on the front row for five of the last six races.

Joining the Moto2 field this weekend will be two wild card riders in Dani Rivas (Mr Griful) and Xavier Simeon (Holiday Gym Racing), whilst Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu begins his two-race partnership with the Technomag-CIP team, as does Spaniard Carmelo Morales with Racing Team Germany.

Moto2 Point Standings

Pos. Rider Bike Nation Points
1. Toni ELIAS Moriwaki SPA 271
2. Julian SIMON Suter SPA 181
3. Andrea IANNONE Speed Up ITA 179
4. Thomas LUTHI Moriwaki SWI 143
5. Simone CORSI Motobi ITA 127
6. Jules CLUZEL Suter FRA 101
7. Gabor TALMACSI Speed Up HUN 95
8. Yuki TAKAHASHI Tech 3 JPN 86
9. Shoya TOMIZAWA Suter JPN 82
10. Scott REDDING Suter GBR 78
11. Roberto ROLFO Suter ITA 75
12. Stefan BRADL Suter GER 72
13. Alex DEBON FTR SPA 70
14. Alex DE ANGELIS Motobi RSM 69
15. Karel ABRAHAM FTR CZE 65
16. Dominique AEGERTER Suter SWI 60
17. Sergio GADEA Pons Kalex SPA 59
18. Fonsi NIETO Moriwaki SPA 45
19. Mike DI MEGLIO Suter FRA 34
20. Ratthapark WILAIROT Bimota THA 30
21. Yonny HERNANDEZ BQR-Moto2 COL 30
22. Claudio CORTI Suter ITA 20
23. Kenny NOYES Promoharris USA 18
24. Alex BALDOLINI I.C.P. ITA 18
25. Anthony WEST MZ-RE Honda AUS 17
26. Hector FAUBEL Suter SPA 13
27. Mattia PASINI Motobi ITA 12
28. Damian CUDLIN Pons Kalex AUS 9
29. Xavier SIMEON Moriwaki BEL 9
30. Jason DI SALVO FTR USA 7
31. Raffaele DE ROSA Tech 3 ITA 5
32. Lukas PESEK Moriwaki CZE 5
33. Axel PONS Pons Kalex SPA 4
34. Michael RANSEDER Suter AUT 4
35. Michele PIRRO Moriwaki ITA 2
36. Vladimir IVANOV Moriwaki UKR 2
37. Arne TODE Suter GER 2
38. Yusuke TESHIMA Motobi JPN 1

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