Round six of Moto 2 is going to be at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. The race will be hot, even though there's a breeze. Scott Redding wants his third consecutive Moto 2 win. Hometown favorite Pol Espargaro is on pole. Scott Redding and Esteve "Tito" Rabat, is third. Espargaro's team wanted to change engines. But, they elected not to, unlike Marc VDS. The bikes are off on their warmup lap. This race will be 23 laps. Here we go!
At the start, Takaki Nakagaami gets pased. The bikes fan out eight wide into turn one! Tom Luthi runs wide from tenth on the grid! Yikes! Pol Espargaro leads as Toni Elias is out of the race already. Tom Luthi went off and on. Alex de Angelis and Scott Redding battle each other. Louis Rossi crashes along with Steven Odendaal. Mika Kallio got forced wide at the start. Nakagami is being pushed by Redding. He knew he was coming. Redding is third as Nakagaami leads Rabat. Tom Luthi and Alex de Angelis are running well as team mates Randy Krummenacher and Dominik Aegerter are both running together down the order.
Redding runs fast lap in the 1:49 range. For Toni Elias, it's game over. Redding felt his bike was down on power in practice on Saturday. His fastest lap of the weekend was in the morning warmup. Randy Krummenacher is running well, with Johann Zarco behind. Four more riders go down! Ugh. Xavier Simeon is at least one of them. Espargaro continues to lead. He wants to win a second Moto 2 race, and his first at his home Grand Prix. Heat and tire wear are the main issues in this race. Tom Luthi sets new fast lap at 1:46.960. Redding is reeling in Tom Luthi. Alex de Angelis is slowing.
Six laps are complete now. Toni Elias is despondent about being out of his home race. de Angelis actually crashed. Krummenacher moves up. Johann Zarco and Marcel Schrotter take advantage. Alex de Angelis is actually back on the trrack, but he did indeed tip the bike over. Luthi and Redding are going well right now, too. Sandro Cortese makes a pit stop. Cortese ran into Toni Elias. So, he could have damage. Cortese runs off the road and plunges down the order.
Takaaki Nakagami wants to bring his bike home. Randy Krummenacher is working well, too. Although, he seems to be in the shadows of Dominik Aegerter. Rabat is pressuring Espargaro. Can Scott Redding keep going? He's got a big lead in the championship and needs consistency. Pol Espargaro has to win. With Sandro Cortese, he's completely out, and so is Toni Elias. The race approaches halfway. Johann Zarco is running in a decent position at the moment. Louis Rossi and Steven Odendaal have both retired. Esoargari continues to lead and there is a gap between Luthi and Redding.
Zarco is catching Nakagaami and Krummenacher. Marcel Schrotter who was eighth, has crashed. What a shame. Ten lap remain now. Redding looks like he'll finish in fourth. Tito Rabat takes the lead away from Pol Espargaro. What will Rabat do? No team orders. Just don't take each other out. Espargaro runs a 1:48.1. Rabat runs a 1:47.3. Jordi Torres is eighth with Mika Kallio in ninth. He might start moving up towards the end of the race.
Danny Kent runs fourteenth, in front of Nico Terol. Mattia Passini seems he's having a decent race right now, too. The bikes are really starting to slide around. Espargaro runs well, replying to challenges from Luthi and Rabat. Axel Pons has to drop a spot behind Mike Di Meglio. Pol Espargaro takes over the lead from Tito Rabat as Rabat runs slightly wide. Six laps remaining. Espargaro and Rabat put in a ton of lean angle, almost right onto their elbows. Nakagaami and Krummenacher still battle for fifth place. Ratthpark Villairot and other riders battle down the order. But, back at th front, it seems like Espargaro consolidates his lead. Anthony West retires.
Pol Espargaro's brother Aleix Espargaro, watches on. Aleix is a MotoGP rider. Rafid Topan Sucipto, crashes out of the race. Espargaro crashed into Marc Marquez last year in turn ten on this track. Is Axel Pons still in this race? Likely not, as he fell down. Dominik Aegerter tries passing but can't. Nico Terol leads Danny Kent. Redding will keep his big points lead. Take points when you've got them. Don't try to search for too many because there is a risk of crashing out. Espargaro and Rabat are still 1-2. It's the last lap. Rabat wants into Espargaro's slipstream. Can Tito Rabat get by?
Espargaro is pushing, holding off Rabat. He doesn't want anyone there. Not even his team mate. Tito, you'll have to really pull a rabbit out of the hat, sunshine, if you want to win. Through turns nine and ten, Espargaro got through the corner and Rabat ran an uneven line. Into turns twelve and thirteen. Will he go for it? Nope. Espargaro wins his home race, and his second win of 2013.
#40 Pol Espargaro ESP Kalex Granollers
The next Moto 2 race is in Holland. It's the Dutch TT at the Assen circuit, in two weeks.
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