2011 Le Mans Moto2: Results

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

 

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