Marc VDS Racing’s Tito Rabat2014 Catalunya Moto2 ResultsTito Rabat fended off an early lead challenge from Maverick Viñales to extend his Moto2 World Championship lead.
The Marc VDS rider started from pole position and lead the race from the early laps until eventually crossing the line 4.24 seconds ahead of fellow Spaniard Paginas Amarillas Pons rider Maverick Viñales for a home win.In a statement to the press, Rabat said of the race: “In the race I made a good start and I enjoyed a good battle with first Mika Kallio and then Maverick Viñales, but then I pushed very hard to get away and managed to pull a gap at the front of the race. It’s always special to win at home.”Viñales rode an unchallenged race to second position, finishing nearly seven seconds ahead of AirAsia Caterham’s Johann Zarco.The podium is the second for 19 year old Viñales, who shared with UM the details of his podium: “This weekend was incredible because in qualifying we found the right setup in the last minutes.This weekend was really important for me at my home track and a podium here feels incredible. We tried to improve the tire grip all weekend because on the first laps the bike was great but in the end we always lost a lot of grip. The grip was a lot better today.”Frenchman Johann Zarco battled with Interwetten Paddock Moto2’s Tom Luthi and Marc VDS rider Mika Kallio for third in the last stages of the race.The podium is the first of the year for Zarco, who was surprised by the podium finish, reporting to UM: “I didn’t expect this podium after such a difficult start to the weekend. We had problems with grip all weekend but I could see that I could find some grip in different parts [of the track] and that if I changed my riding style I could use those places as well as possible and in the end it paid off.”Kallio eventually finished fourth ahead of Luthi in fifth, followed by Italian rider Mattia Pasini with Ricky Cardus 7th and Axle Pons 8th – career bests for both Spanish riders. Marcel Schrotter crossed the line 9th—his best finish of the year—with Anthony West finishing tenth after starting from 27th on the grid.The race was an incident packed affair, with Franco Morbidelli, Randy Krummenacher and Simone Corsi all crashing on the first lap (Morbidelli and Krummenacher were able to rejoin to finish 21st and 25th, respectively).Brit Sam Lowes fell shortly after, followed by Sandro Cortese and Jonas Folger, the German running into the gravel at high speed to avoid running over his Paginas Amarillas Pons rider Luis Salom, who highsided and slid across the pavement in front of oncoming traffic.The Spaniard broke a finger in the incident and was operated on immediately to reset it.Jordi Torres crashed in front of Dominique Aegerter, his bouncing Mapfre Aspar Team Moto2 bike striking the front of Aegerter’s machine, though the Swiss rider remarkably recovered and finished in the points after off-roading through the gravel and rejoining the race.Lone American representative Josh Herrin collected his best (and second) finish of his rookie season with a 16th place.2014 Catalunya Moto2 Results:
