Morbidelli, Nakagami, Lüthi... if your name doesn't end in "i", you apparently have less chance of competing for the top places in the Moto2 category!
However, this opinion is obviously not shared by Alex Marquez, Miguel Oliveira et Dani Kent, and even Dominique Aegerter et Xavi Verge.
The track is dry, the temperatures ideal (23/23), and the warm up generally confirmed this preponderance of the "i's" with the support of Mattia Pasini and Lorenzo Baldassarri, Miguel Oliveira then appearing as an artifact, just like his brand new KTM in the middle of a pack of Kalex.
When the red lights go out, Franco Morbidelli makes the hole shot from its pole position in front Tom Luthi et Alex Marquez, also a splendid departure from Xavi Virgo which is in fifth position from the first turns. Conversely, fabio quartararo moves back a little and appears in 13th place. Further in the peloton, a collision seems to take place between Mattia Pasini, Hafizh Syahrin et Remi Gardner, to the great dismay of the latter.
Syahrin, Pasini and a very displeased @RemyGardner down on the first lap! #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/x086ozUlqZ
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) March 26, 2017
From the first pass, Tom Luthi took advantage of the straight line to take control of the slipstream before setting the best time in the race in 2'00.967.
fabio quartararo quickly rises to 10th position while Miguel Oliveira took fifth place, being the fastest on the track at that time (2'00.642) on his KTM.
On your mind, Franco Morbidelli begins to gradually escape and, tenth after tenth, builds up a lead of almost a second on the fifth lap of a race which has twenty.
From the third of the race, the Italian driver takes away all the suspense with almost two seconds in advance, and attention therefore shifts to the group of four following him, made up of Lüthi, Marquez, Nakagami and Oliveira. Last year's winner, Tom Lüthi, however, seems to be taking the measure of his opponents and sheltering himself from any attack, in second position.
A little further on, a tight pack of 8 pilots is led by Xavi Verge and its Mistral M610. We count fabio quartararo returned seventh, Luca Marini, Danny Kent, Axel Pons, Lorenzo Baldassarri, Francesco Bagnaia and Dominique Aegerter. The French driver quickly takes the lead of this group, in sixth position halfway through the race.
Huge tip of the hat to @FabioQ20 for a VERY impressive # Moto2 debut so far – 6th with 10 laps to go! #QatarGP pic.twitter.com/DARAGUr5Ht
- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) March 26, 2017
At the top, the positions seem almost stabilized, even if Miguel Oliveira start to tease Takaaki Nakagami for the third step of the podium.
In the hunting group, fabio quartararo must face attacks from Luca marini but overall manages to retain command of the group of pursuers. The Frenchman's pace, which runs in 2'00.816, gradually accelerates as the laps go by. It is even faster thanAlex Marquez ahead of him, but a gap of five seconds six laps from the checkered flag seems difficult to close, especially as Luca marini does not give up and even overtakes the Frenchman three laps from the finish.
Franco Morbidelli's first undisputed victory for his fourth year in Moto2, ahead of the solid Tom Luthi and the experienced Takaaki Nakagami.
Miguel Oliveira really made the colors of the all-new KTM shine, while we can also rejoice in the Pons HP 40 and Tech3 teams, with the beautiful seventh and ninth places of fabio quartararo et Xavi Verge.
Xavier Simeon snatches the point from 15th position, after a relatively difficult race.
Ranking compiled by our friends at crash.net :
1. Franco Morbidelli ITA EG 0,0 Marc VDS (Kalex)
40m 18.480s
2. Thomas luthi SWI CarXpert Interwetten (Kalex)
40m 21.161s
3. Takaaki Nakagami JPN IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 40m 21.784s
4. Miguel Oliveira POR Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 40m 22.064s
5. Alex Marquez SPA EG 0,0 Marc VDS (Kalex) 40m 29.706s
6. Luca marini ITA Forward Racing Team (Kalex) 40m 32.227s
7. fabio quartararo FRA Pons HP40 (Kalex) 40m 32.468s
8. Lorenzo Baldassarri ITA Forward Racing Team (Kalex) 40m 35.945s
9. Xavi Verge SPA Tech 3 Racing (Tech 3) 40m 35.957s
10. Axel Pons SPA RW Racing GP (Kalex) 40m 36.247s
11. Dominique Aegerter SWI Kiefer Racing (Suter)
40m 36.282s
12. Francis Bagnaia ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (Kalex) 40m 36.570s
13. Danny Kent GBR Kiefer Racing (Suter) 40m 37.803s
14. Jesko Raffin SWI Garage Plus Interwetten (Kalex)
40m 41.278s
15. Xavier Simeon BEL Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 (Kalex) 40m 42.489s
16. Marcel schrotter GER Dynavolt Intact GP (Suter)
40m 42.557s
17. Simone Courses ITA Speed Up Racing (Speed Up)
40m 46.673s
18. Yonny Hernandez COL AGR Team (Kalex) 40m 50.308s
19. Tetsuta nagashima JPN Teluru SAG Team (Kalex)
40m 50.319s
20. Brad Binder RSA Red Bull KTM Ajo (KTM) 40m 52.526s
21. Isaac Viñales SPA BE-A-VIP SAG Team (Kalex)
40m 58.707s
22. Sandra Cortese GER Dynavolt Intact GP (Suter)
40m 58.759s
23. Julian Simon SPA Garage Plus Interwetten (Kalex)
40m 58.926s
24. Mattia Pasini ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex)
41m 0.981s
25. Ricard Cardus SPA Speed Up Racing (Speed Up)
41m 1.480s
26. Edgar Pons SPA Pons HP40 (Kalex) 41m 5.552s
27. Andrea Locatelli ITA Italtrans Racing Team (Kalex) 41m 5.966s
28. Khairul Idham Pawi MAL IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia (Kalex) 41m 9.686s
29. Stefano manzi ITA SKY Racing Team VR46 (Kalex)
41m 20.560s
Jorge Navarro SPA Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 (Kalex)
DNF
Hafiz Syahrin MAL Petronas Raceline Malaysia (Kalex)
DNF
Saeed Al-Sulaiti QAT QMMF Racing (Speed Up) DNF
Remy gardner AUS Tech 3 Racing (Tech 3) DNF
