2015 Valencia Moto2 Results
Though Johann Zarco secured the 2015 Moto2 title at round 15 at Twin Ring Motegi, the action during the season finale at Valencia was beyond intense – it was as if everyone was fighting for the title.
But it wasn’t Zarco who came out on top; the AJO Motorsports Kalex pilot took the race as an opportunity to test a new 2016 chassis. Zarco finished seventh, missing a new podium record, but he did secure 352 points – a new record in the Moto2 class.
Earning the win was the 2014 Moto2 Champion, Tito Rabat. The Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS pilot, who missed the past three rounds due to a wrist injury, earned his 13th career Moto2 victory, and is now the most successful Moto2 rider in history.
Joining Rabat, who becomes KTM’s test rider for its bid at MotoGP, on the Valencia Moto2 podium were Paginas Amarilla HP40’s Alex Rins and Derendinger Racing Interwetten’s Thomas Luthi, respectively.
Although Rins missed out on the win, he beat Rabat to second overall in points.
“I’m so happy, because I arrived here not knowing if I would be able to ride at the top level. But I felt good on the bike on Friday and it got better with every day. Okay, I’m still not 100% fit, but I’m fit enough to ride fast. Today was my last race in Moto2 and my last race with my crew, so it was great to say farewell to both with a win.
“I enjoyed the race; I just pushed on every lap and treated it like a sprint. I thought it was Lüthi behind me at the end, like last year, but then I looked back and saw Rins, so I knew he was going to challenge, and I knew I was going to hold him off. I learnt a lot this weekend; mainly that I need to give myself time to recover after an injury, but also that I maybe don’t need to do so many laps at home to be quick. Now we start the next adventure, with the MotoGP test on Tuesday and Wednesday.”
2015 Valencia Moto2 Results – Recap
The original Valencia Moto2 had to red-flagged after a multiple rider crash at the first corner that saw Morbidelli, Syahrin, Schrotter, Folger, Simeon, Mulhauser, Fuligni and Vierge all hit the tarmac. Luckily most were unhurt, but Syahrin and Morbidelli were taken to the Medical Center for further treatment.
The restarted race was reduced to 18 laps, and saw Rabat enjoy a race long duel with his compatriot Rins, whom he eventually beat by a mere 0.309 seconds.It capped a remarkable comeback from the broken radius that forced Rabat to miss the flyway rounds, and sent the sold out Valencia – Ricardo Tormo circuit in raptures as the local hero pulled off the win.
Moto2 rookie of the year Rins (234 points) secured his tenth podium of the season to ensure that, although he lost out to Rabat (231 points) in the race, he won the battle for second in the championship standings with his fellow Spaniard by 3 points.
Derendinger Racing Interwetten’s Thomas Luthi made it back-to-back podiums as he crossed the line in 3rd, just over 3 seconds further back from Rins, in the process securing 5th in the championship.
Forward Racing’s Lorenzo Baldassari was fourth; as the 19-year-old Italian ended the season in style with three top five finishes in the last three races. Speed Up Racing’s Sam Lowes rode superbly to go from 10th on the grid to fifth, meaning he finished the season in fourth in the standings with 186 points.
Paginas Amarillas HP40’s Luis Salom made it three sixth-placed finishes in a row, ahead of Zarco in seventh. Completing the top 10 were Simone Corsi (Forward Racing) and Mika Kallio (QMMF Racing Team).