Italian Grand Prix, Mugello, Moto2, Race: Álex Márquez knocks out his opponents and the race

If Lorenzo Baldassarri (Kalex, Flex-Box Pons HP 40) dominated the start of the season by winning 3 of the first 4 Grands Prix, his lead in the championship is only 7 points over Tom Lüthi (Kalex, Dynavolt Intact GP) , 11 on Jorge Navarro (Speed ​​Up, +Ego Speed ​​Up), 14 on Álex Márquez (Kalex, Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) and 19 on Marcel Schrötter (Kalex, Dynavolt Intact GP).

Qualified only in 15th position for this Italian Grand Prix at Mugello, the Italian driver is therefore not immune to a reversal of the situation especially as the first row of the starting grid is made up of Marcel Schrötter, Tom Luthi et Alex Marquez...

For this 21-lap battle which could therefore see a change of leader in the Moto2 championship, the conditions are ideal with 28° in the air and 45° on the asphalt.

Mugello Moto2™	2018	2019
FP1	1'52.515 Alex Marquez	1'52.514 Luca Marini
FP2	1'52.124 Joan Mir	1'51.986 Luca Marini
FP3	1'52.068 Mattia Pasini	1'51.625 Augusto Fernández
Q1	XXX	1'51.659 Xavi Virgo
Q2	1'51.575 Mattia Pasini	1'51.129 Marcel Schrötter
warm up	1'52.316 Francesco Bagnaia	1'52.158 Enea Bastianini
Course	Oliveira, Baldassarri, Mir
All time lap record	1'51.129 Marcel Schrötter (2019)

Drivers' tire choices:

When the red lights go out, Tom Luthi starts best from 2nd place on the grid and approaches the San Donato first in front of his teammate Marcel Schrotter.

A contact between Xavi Verge (Kalex, Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS), Fabio di Giannantonio (Speed ​​Up, +Ego Speed ​​Up) and Iker Lecuona (KTM, American Racing KTM) eliminates the latter at turn 3.

At the end of the first round, Lüthi leads ahead Schrötter, Alex Marquez, Luca Marini (Kalex, SKY Racing Team VR46) and Jorge Navarro while Sam Lowes (Kalex, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) takes the chasing group.

On the 4th pass, Marcel Schrötter tries to pass his teammate on the slipstream but the experienced Swiss delays his braking and retains the lead.

The 5 leading men now have more than 2 seconds ahead of the peloton still led by the duo Sam Lowes (Kalex, Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) / Enea Bastianini (Kalex, Italtrans Racing Team).

In the 6st round, Alex Marquez and Luca Marini spend Marcel Schrötter while the wilcard Teppei Nagoe fall at turn 15.

The gap between Tom Luthi et Alex Marquez is then 3/10 but this is reduced under pressure from the Spaniard.

A third of the way through, Stefano manzi (MV, MV Agusta Idealavoro Forward) falls at turn 8, just before Alex Marquez takes command.

Simone Courses (Kalex, Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) loses control at San Donato whileAlex Marquez begins to widen the gap on Tom Luthi.

Behind, alone Luca marini seems able to keep up with the pace since Jorge Navarro, 4th, is already more than 2 seconds behind.

At the halfway mark, the junction is made between Tom Luthi et Luca marini while Lorenzo Baldassarri, the championship leader, moved up to 5th place.

Gradually, Alex Marquez manages to escape and his lead rises to 1,5 seconds with 10 laps to go.

One lap later, the battle for 2nd place took on a new face when Luca marini takes advantage of Tom Luthi…And manages to keep it!

7 laps from the checkered flag, Jorge Navarro makes a mistake, which immediately benefits Lorenzo Baldassarri to occupy 4th position.

From then on, the loops follow one another without major changes in mind despite the pressure put by Baldassarri on a Lüthi who nevertheless manages to maintain his place on the podium.

The first KTM, that of Brad Binder, appears in 15th position on the finish line of a Grand Prix that was ultimately somewhat monotonous…

In the championship, on the other hand, interest is growing with Alex Marquez just 2 points from Lorenzo Baldassarri thanks to his 2 consecutive victories… Are we heading towards a double for the Márquez brothers at the end of the year?

Moto2 Italian Grand Prix standings:

Classification credit: MotoGP.com