It's the opening round of the Moto 2 championship for 2013, at the Losail circuit in Doha, Qatar.
The bikes are on their warmup lap, at this cool circuit in the desert. 20 laps are scheduled. Pol Espargaro has pole position. He is the favorite for this race. Most of the names are here from last year. Sandro Cortese moves up to Moto 2 after winning the Moto 3 championship last year. The track was very dirty. Louis Rossi and Danny Kent also move up to Moto 2 from Moto 3. Kyle Smith makes his debut. Tom Luthi is hurt, and is replaced by Sergio Gadea. Mike Di Meglio is going to have to start from the back of the gird, as the bikes set off on their warmup lap. We are ready for the start.
However, Di Meglio is going to start from the pits, no matter what. Here we go.
At the start, Scott Redding goes well, but Sandro Cortese is not running well. Taaki Nakagami, Scott Redding, Mika Kallio, Tito Rabat, they're all moving up. Dominik Aegerter is up there and Mika Kallio almost crashes. Tito Rabat is going past Kallio. Nico Terol moves up, and Julian Simon is dropping down the order, after being on the dirty line. Scott Redding is right on top of Pol Espargaro. Takaki Nakagaami is going for it, pulling away.
Dominik Aegerter might be holding up the race. Rathpark Villarot is going to serve a penalty for jumping the start. Simone Corsi moves up with Julian Simon. Pol Espargaro shadows Nakagami. Scott Redding is going to have to conserve his tires. Scott Redding is much smoother in his riding style already as the 2013 season starts. A rider makes himself into what they'll become. Tito Rabat is moving up, too. He had a good race in Japan last year. Ratthpark Willairot is going to have to serve a penalty. It's official, according to the pit board.
Pol Espargaro settles in behind Nakagami. The top riders run in the 2:01.5 to 2:01.8 lap time range. Simone Corsi seems to be running well. Nakagami is opening the gap. Tito Rabat passes Dominik Aegerter and looks to reel in Scott Redding. Axel Pons crashes. He'll have to be removed from the track. He ditches the bike in a low side shunt. Pons is team mate to Tito Rabat, and Pol Espargaro. Pons should be OK. Meanwhile, Rabat is 2.5 seconds ahead of Redding. Aegerter, Corsi, and Simon are coming. Louis Rossi and Simone Corsi are having issues. Ditto for Danny Kent. These guys come from Moto 3.
Anthony West is languishing. Villairot needs to be brought in for his penalty. He doesn't know he has to come in, though. If he doesn't come in, he'll be disqualified, as Nakagami runs a 2:01 flat. Nakagami is pulling away, but Redding is coming. Five laps complete. A replay is shown of Louis Rossi's fall. Scott Redding needs a win in Moto 2. He wants to be in MotoGP. But, he can't get there yet. Simone Corsi is moving up. Marcel Schrotter is eighth, behind Julian Simon.
Mika Kallio will get stronger. 5.2 seconds exist between Corsi in fourth, and Espargaro in third spot. Takaaki Nakagami still leads. Julian Simon replaces Toni Elias as Nakagami's team mate. He's run with a team that has had names like Casey Stoner, Dani Pedrosa, and others. Anthony West is out of the race. Anthony West ditches his bike. Maybe he can get going. But, he might be out. He is sponsored by the nation of Qatar. Again, Louis Rossi is a retirement from this race.
Redding is 6/10ths quicker than Scott Redding. Redding is right on top of Nakagami, taking the race lead. Twelve laps left. Pol Espargaro has to reel in Redding. Actually, he'll need to get through Nakagami first. Nakagami drops down another tenth of a second. Anthony West is out of the race. Nakagami runs wide. Perhaps, he expects Espargaro to pass, and yes, he does. Espargaro is now second. Is Nakagami going to fight? Matteo Pasini retires. Pasini was in MotoGP last year.
Pasini collected Steven Odendaal. The race is half over. Passini won in 250cc competition five years ago. Ooh. Mike DiMeglio took Passini out of this one. Whack. Ouch! This race isn't over by any means. Tito Rabat might get stronger, and so will Mika Kallio. Rabat passes Dominik Aegerter. Julian Simon leads Marcel Schrotter. Espargaro runs a 2:01 flat. Nakagaami is losing ground. Danny Kent battles Sandro Cortese. These two were team mates in Moto 3 last year.
Nakagaami can just keep a podium in sight. Nine laps to go. Make that eight. There's a half a second between Scott Redding, and Pol Espargaro. The lap times are very consistent, one lap after another, much like a MotoGP race. Dominik Aegerter closes on Simone Corsi. There may be a yellow flag here. Riders will be "summoned". What does this mean? Hmmm. Espargaro sets fast lap. Redding is still setting 2:01s. Redding has argued with crew chief Pete Benson. Benson was Nicky Hayden's crew chief, in MotoGP in 2006.
This is a huge opportunity for Scott Redding. But, Pol Espargaro is also a hard charger. He could have won the Moto 2 title last year, if not for Marc Marquez. Pol Espargaro wants by Scott Redding. Espargaro took him buy surprise. Uh oh. Someone gets his bike right in Redding's face! Was that Espargaro? Yikes! This is getting crazy with five laps left. Redding wants Moto 2 victory. Espargaro won four races last year. Here comes Espargaro. Espargaro takes the lead. Now, Redding needs to push. He wonders if he can win. What will he do?
Pol Espargaro and Scott Redding continue their battles. Espargaro will not crack under pressure. It's a duel to the finish. Both slide in the last corner. Espargaro has better drive on the straight. He can't get a tow off Espargaro's bike. Sito Pons (a double FIM Grand Prix champion), looks on, watching his rider (Espargaro). Scott Redding cannot pass. He'll have to block pass, and force Espargaro to make a mistake. Redding will have to push. Can he win? It's going to go down to the wire.
Lining up for the triple right curves, Mika Kallio is going well as Tito Rabat falls behind. Now, Redding is trying Espargaro with a lap and a half left. He cannot get by. It's going to be pretty close, fans. But, Redding just doesn't have a chance to get into the slipstream. It's the last lap of the race now. Redding pushes on the brakes. It's now or never. Redding is reeling him in but not quite. Redding tries hard on the inside and can't get there. He has to make time. He hangs in there. But, it's not going to be enough. Pol Espargaro is going to do it.
Espargaro wins!
#40 Pol Espargaro ESP Kalex Granolers
The next Moto 2 race is in two weeks at the Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas, U.S.A.
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