After the morning fog, the sun is back on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit; the track is now over 35°!
With a Sam Lowes poleman and the fastest during this morning's warm-up, the suspense could seem reduced to nothing on the Moto2 starting grid for this Spanish Grand Prix. However, the numerous falls suffered by the British driver, the latest having taken place this morning, still leave doubt about the reliability of the generous fellow, especially since during qualifying, Folger, Cortese and Morbidelli only conceded a few tiny thousandths of a second.
On the French-speaking side, Johann zarco always seems to be looking for the famous half-second that makes all the difference: “I lacked a certain confidence. Apparently on this track, since the winter tests, I have struggled to pass the limits to go really fast. Today is a new day. It was difficult in the warm up but everyone is very tight. Binder showed the way well to win his first race. It's up to me to be strong and intelligent during overtaking to do my best. » He starts 16th, three places ahead Xavier Simeon. 29th on the grid, Robin Mulhauser is always looking for sensations.
When the red lights go out, Jonas Folger takes the holeshot while Tom Luthi borders on the highside. A very big fall occurs at turn #5. The pilots, Xavi Virgo and Ratthapark Wilairot, are stunned and remain on land, but will eventually be evacuated. Simone Courses, 3rd, falls alone, losing the front a few turns further on.
Meanwhile, Sam Lowes passes Jonas Folger who has widened, and begins to widen the gap. Alex Marquez also ended up on the ground at turn #2, as did Cortese in the same spot a lap later.
After five rounds, the hierarchy consists of Lowes, Folger, Rins, Morbidelli, Schrotter, Baldassarri, Oliveira, Luthi, Aegerter and Zarco.
Kent fall at turn #6 followed byAxel Pons at #13; already 7 falls in 6 rounds!
In the lead, Lowes, Folger, Rins and Morbidelli are each separated by a few lengths, which allows them to breathe a little, but little by little, Folger manages to get closer to Lowes' wheel.
The list of falls increases by one with that of Marcel Schrotter at turn #13.
Halfway through the race, Zarco passes agitated while Schrotter gives up, following a second fall.
The second half of the race is somewhat soporific when the fall of Miguel Oliveira, under the pressure of Tom Luthi, pulls us out of a certain torpor. Until then, the Portuguese Rookie had had a very good race. As a result, Zarco regains 7th place and even seems able to get back on Lüthi. This is actually what happens four laps from the finish. Baldassarri's fall in the last lap will be the last feat of arms in a race which will not go down in history.
Beautiful final image; Johann Zarco pushes Alex Rins' broken down motorcycle.
Second Grand Prix victory for Sam Lowes, Johann zarco saves the 11 points for fifth place, Xavier Simeon the 6 points for 10th place and Robin Mulhauser scores his first point of the season.
Pos | The point system | number | Pile | Country | Team | Motorcycle | Km / h | Time/Gap |
1 | 25 | 22 | Sam LOWES | GBR | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Kalex | 153.4 | 44'58.624 |
2 | 20 | 94 | Jonas Folger | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 153.2 | +2.480 |
3 | 16 | 40 | Alex Rins | SPA & WELLNESS | Pages Yellow HP 40 | Kalex | 152.9 | +8.113 |
4 | 13 | 21 | Frank MORBIDELLI | ITA | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 152.8 | +10.659 |
5 | 11 | 5 | johann zarco | FRA | Ajo Motorsport | Kalex | 152.5 | +14.594 |
6 | 10 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SWI | Garage Plus Interwetten | Kalex | 152.5 | +16.019 |
7 | 9 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 152.4 | +16.352 |
8 | 8 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | CarXpert Interwetten | Kalex | 152.3 | +18.433 |
9 | 7 | 39 | Luis SALOM | SPA & WELLNESS | SAG Team | Kalex | 152.1 | +21.502 |
10 | 6 | 19 | Xavier SIMEON | BEL | QMMF Racing Team | Speed Up | 151.6 | +31.300 |
11 | 5 | 55 | Hafiz Syahrin | MAL | Petronas Raceline Malaysia | Kalex | 151.3 | +35.980 |
12 | 4 | 54 | Matthias PASINI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 151.3 | +37.348 |
13 | 3 | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | SPA & WELLNESS | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 151.3 | +37.454 |
14 | 2 | 2 | Jesko RAFFIN | SWI | Sports-Millions-EMWE-SAG | Kalex | 150.6 | +48.923 |
15 | 1 | 70 | Robin MULHAUSER | SWI | CarXpert Interwetten | Kalex | 150.2 | +55.832 |
16 | 10 | Luca MARINI | ITA | Forward Team | Kalex | 149.9 | + 1'01.795 | |
17 | 7 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | ITA | Forward Team | Kalex | 149.5 | + 1'09.465 | |
18 | 42 | Federico FULIGNI | ITA | Team Ciatti | Kalex | 149.5 | + 1'10.201 | |
19 | 33 | Alessandro TONUCCI | ITA | Moto2 Scuderia Racing pocket | Kalex | 149.4 | + 1'10.642 | |
Unclassified | ||||||||
44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Leopard Racing | Kalex | 152.6 | 6 Tours | ||
23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | AGR Team | Kalex | 147.4 | 15 Tours | ||
52 | Danny Kent | GBR | Leopard Racing | Kalex | 139.9 | 21 Tours | ||
49 | Axel PONS | SPA & WELLNESS | AGR Team | Kalex | 127.8 | 21 Tours | ||
11 | Sandro CORTESE | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Kalex | 151.0 | 22 Tours | ||
73 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA & WELLNESS | Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 148.4 | 24 Tours | ||
24 | Simone COURSES | ITA | Speed Up Racing | Speed Up | 144.9 | 25 Tours | ||
Did not finish the 1st round | ||||||||
14 | Ratthapark WILAIROT | THA | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 0 Tour | |||
97 | Xavi VIRGIN | SPA & WELLNESS | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 0 Tour |