Here are highlights of the Moto 2 race from Le Mans and the Bugatti circuit.
This race will be 26 laps in length. On the pole is Marc Marques on bike #93. The Moto 3 race was a wild one. That will be highlighted here on Tuesday. So, fans will have to wait. But, highlights will be here. For now, Moto 2 is at the ready for a start. This race is 22 laps.
Marc Marques gets a good start as Pol Espargaro and Tom Luthi try to get by. Espargaro and Scott Redding are the top two. Mika Kalio also has a decent start. Alex de Angelis and Toni Elias are also up there. Yuka Takahashi has crashed. Be careful in the wet. Pol Espargaro is starting to move into a lead over Scott Redding and the others in the top five. Bradley Smith is up to sixth now, too. Smith was looking for a wet race. Gino Rea is up there, too. Rea is another British rider. These guys are like, "forget the rain. We're going for it, no holds barred!" Bradley Smith moves into fifth passing Rea.
Smith passes. Randy Krummenacher is done for the day. Game over. He was in that crunch with Takahashi. Johann Zarco is racing well in the wet. Rea is coming up on Kallio as Redding passes Luthi, too. Luthi almost wrecked. Simone Corsi crashed out. He is in the garage. Pol Espargaro is opening a lead but it doesn't make any differece in the rain. Alex de Angelis fell down, slid across the track and thank heavens he didn't get hit! That was a wickedly horrible wreck. Thre bikes had to go wide to avoid literally hitting him as he slid across the pavement! Ouch! Smith and Redding are still at it. Espargaro still leads.
Stefan Bradl won a race at Silverstone in Moto 2 last year in awful, rainy conditions. Four riders in the back of the top ten have all set fast lap times. Claudio Corti is also in this. I made a mistake. Corti is the rider I was trying to refer to, not Simone Corsi. Still working on who all the riders are. Marques passes Kalio. Luthi almost fell down! He spread his legs wide, sitting on the bike to maintain control. Gino Rea crashed after being highsided. He was hit by another bike. Johann Zarco was in the wreck with Gino Rea. Andrea Ianonni and others are starting to go faster. Scott Redding passes Pol Espargaro.
Brad Smith had a moment going through La Chapelle and hitting the escape road. Corti gets around Marques with Andrea Ianonni up to sixth. Marc Marques fell down and his bike went on and hit the wall. That was a weird one. He slid off the bike and it rolled into the mud. Well, more like slid. Marques can get back on, but, he'll be way down. Luthi is extending his lead. But the race isn't over by any means. Johann Zarco passes for second place going around Corti. He actually passed Redding. Corti runs fast lap at 1:54.1. By the way, never found out fast lap time for MotoGP. Sorry about that.
Zarco now steals fast lap. Luthi laps backmarkers. Zarco and Corti continue hanging on to podium places. Marques seems to either be coming back out or going into the garage. The bike is wheeled in. Richard Cardin has his bike on fire or something. He fell down and the friction between the bike and the pavement caused a load of sparks. Just eight laps to go as Zarco and Luthi run through Garage Vert. Mike di Meglio crashes. It's his second wreck of the day. He slid off. He has won the French GP before on a 125cc bike in 2008. Luthi continues to lead. He's won twice at Le Mans.
Takaaki Nakagami also crashed out. Toni Elias is struggling in the wet in 14th place. Mika Kallio was passed by Anthony West. Luthi and Zarco are separated by less than a second. Anthony West is sixth, having passed Julian Simon. Spaniard Elena Rosell crashes. Just five laps to go as rain gets heavier on the back end of the circuit. Claudio Corti sets a new fast lap at 1:53.855. Corti is chasing down Zarco. Zarco is 1.2 seconds behind Luthi, but, he's crashed! This is a turning point. Zarco violently slides off the bike! He's OK, though.
Luthi is doing very well in the wet. Kallio, Espargaro, Simon and Smith battle for fifth through eighth. Only three laps to go. Andrea Ianonni disappeared but has come back. He may have slid through the alley, missing a corner. Corti is second with Anthony West way up in the order after starting last. Ianonni could have crashed again! Bradley Smith passes Julian Simon for eighth. Mika Kallio passes West. Smith nearly runs into Espargaro. With a lap and a half to run, Andrea Ianonni looks for a way around his competitor. Five bikes battles for fifth. One lap left on this 2.6 mile track at the Bugatti circuit at Le Mans. Scott Redding will get his first podium of 2012 for Marc VDS. Adam West tries passing Pol Espargaro, but no.
West is falling back. Luthi is going to win his second win. It's his third career win at Le Mans! Bradley Smith crashes in the last turn. Julian Simon pushes his bike across the line. It looks like the Isle of Man TT when riders run out of fuel.
#12 Thomas Luthi CHE Suter
Next race: Barcelona, Spain (Circuit de Catalunya)
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