We're ready to go for the Moto 2 race here at the Sachsenring. 29 laps scheduled for this race at the Sachsenring. We have a new polesitter. It's Tito Rabat third, Mika Kallio, second. But, it's Dominik Aegerter on his first pole. He wants to win this race and become the tenth Swiss rider to do so. Takaaki Nakagami is down the order. Nina Prinz of Germany, is a wildcard rider. The bikes are on their warmup lap. We'll be ready to race very soon.
Here we go. Round nine of Moto 2 is go! Dominik Aegerter leads into turn one. But, here comes Mika Kallio. Last year's German GP winner Jordi Torres is in third. They go through The Waterfall into turn twelve. Xavier Simeon wobbles a bit. The first lap is a clean one. Mika Kallio wants by Dominique Aegerter into corner number one. Randy Krummenacher needs to move over. Keep an eye on the weather conditions.
Dominik Aegerter wants to win his first race. Mika Kallio has won here in 125cc and MotoGP competition. Mika Kallio takes the lead. The Finn is going to be strong here. Azlan Shah had an off and has rejoined the race as Aegerter passes Torres for second. Franco Morbidelli is up to fourth ahead of Tito Rabat. Simone Corsi has also moved up to fourth. So, now, it's a different order than we anticipated. Lorenzo Baldassari and Xavier Simeon complete the top ten.
Tito Rabat might pull away. Aegerter closes up into turn one going into lap three. Maverick Vinales has dropped a place and has come back up. Luis Salom is having trouble, dropping down the order. Sam Lowes is not running well either. Nor is Antrhony West, who won the Assen Moto 2 round last time out, in Holland. Franco Morbidelli is running very well right now. Morbidelli passes Torres for fourth. Oh! Torres crashes out of this one! He won't win again at the Sachsenring, high siding right in front of Tito Rabat. Torres was pitched into orbit, and off the bike.
Watch out for yellow flags after Torres' wreck. The bikes run down into the valley and then, back uphill. Simone Corsi and Franco Morbidelli are battling for position. Whoops. Lorenzo Baldassari has crashed. Game over. Kallio leads. He wants win number three of the season. Corsi, Morbidelli, and Rabat, battle for position, for fourth spot. Rabat wants by Corsi and Morbidelli.
Morbidelli passes Corsi. Kallio leads over Aegerter as Tito Rabat tries to move from fifth to third. But, these guys aren't gaining too well. But, Jonas Folger is out. Game over for Jonas Folger. Folger had a mechanical issue as he followed his team mate Axel Pons around the speedway. Maverick Vinales has come up to eighth and wants by Alex de Angelis. Marcel Schrotter passes Louis Rossi. Both of those guys went off the road in qualifying.
Dominique Aegerter wants his first win. But he'll have to pass Kallio, the Flying Finn, first. Morbidelli still wants Corsi. No dice. Here comes Tito Rabat. Morbidelli has to yield. Rabat forces his way through into fourth spot. Morbidelli retakes the spot. Rabat says, "no you don't". Morbidelli is fighting fire with fire. Corsi says, "I'm outta here, dudes. Arriva derci, baby!" Zarco, de Angelis, and Vinales, are coming. Folger is out because of a gear selection problem.
Johann Zarco and company are closing on Tito Rabat. Dominique Aegerter will take every possible risk. He wants his first win. 17 laps left in this race. Maverick Vinales is very quick on lap 13. We work lap 14 at the moment with 15 laps remaining. Josh Herrin has trouble, and it's game over. It's been a tough transition to racing on the world stage for Herrin, coming from the AMA Superbike Championship. Azlan Shah went down right at the start of the race.
Rabat passes Morbidelli. We're at halfway in this contest. Maverick Vinale wants to pass Johann Zarco, and does so in turn twelve. Mika Kallio runs fastest lap of this race. Josh Herrin is playing hurt, and he'll hope to have a better second half of the season. Tito Rabat passes Simone Corsi. Johann Zarco is out, and his bike is on fire. Both Caterham bikes have had a horrible race. That bike is comprehensively ablaze. Did that happen before the wreck?
The smoke is still thick as the Caterham bike, melts like the Wicked Witch of The West. Dominique Aegerter is closing up on Mika Kallio. Watch out. Colin Edwards had a fire riding in his first year of Grand Prix racing on an Aprilia at the Sachsenring. Kallio wants to win this. Corsi hangs onto third over Tito Rabat. Watch out for Maverick Vinales. He's faster than the race leader right now. This is going to be a nail biting finish.
Aegerter shows Mika Kallio his front wheel saying, "knock, knock. I'm here." We work lap 20, with eleven remaining. Tito Rabat has passed Simone Corsi. He's not close enough as Rabat is now third, in a podium spot. Franco Morbidelli is also trying to get by Corsi. Aegerter is close. He's applying the blowtorch to Mika Kallio. Mika Kallio has won 15 Grand Prix races. Tom Luthi passes Alex de Angelis for ninth. It's anyone's guess who will finish in this race, and who will win.
Maverick Vinales might help Tito Rabat. Dominique Aegerter is going to make a move. it's a matter of when. 90% of the grid is on hard, scrubbed tires, according to the Dunlop engineers, the tire supplier for Moto 2. How will Mika Kallio react? Maverick Vinales moves ahead of Franco Morbidelli. Vinales is having a go at Corsi at the Sachsen curve. Kallio and Aegerter will battle to the end for the race win. Morbidelli has Rabat all over him like a rash. Pardon. Vinales does. Vinales is chasing Rabat.
Sandro Cortese is out. He won here in Moto 3 a couple years ago. Marcel Schrotter goes to fourteenth spot. Has Mika Kallio got anything left in the locker to try passing? Oh! There's a bike down. It's in turn eleven. It's off the racing line, but, still on the track. Alex de Angelis is the rider down. He's fine. But the bike is blocking the road. It's real odd to have a bike sitting in the middle of the road, with the blokes leading the race, booking it down the hill.
Corsi swoops around the outside of Vinales. Franco Morbidelli is still in this scrap, too. Five laps left. Vinales wants by Corsi. Corsi is still saying, no way, sunshine!" Vinales tries in turn twelve. He can't quite do it. Here comes Vinales over Corsi. He moves to fourth. Aegerter passes for the lead. He's hounded Kallio. It's Switzerland vs. Finland. Aegerter finally said, "uncle!, uncle! I'm going by!" But Kallio is a strategic, tactical racer. Nina Prinz needs to move over. She does.
Kallio is absolutely flying. Azlan Shah, after his first lap wreck, is still running. Aegerter can smell blood. He wants to win his first Grand Prix race. Corsi re-passes Vinales for fourth. Dominik Aegerter is pushing, and is 2/10ths quicker than Mika Kallio. Into turns nine and ten before plunging down the Waterfall at turn eleven and into twelve. He can't carry enough speed. Whoa! Kallio retakes the lead. Two laps left. Can Aegerter pass for the win? We know now that Kallio has the steam to hang with Aegerter.
Can Aegerter come back? A lap and a half to go. Kallio is flying. He's opening a gap on Aegerter. Dominik Aegerter is closing. He might get snookered. Corsi and Vinales set their personal best laps. It's the last lap. Kallio is going to have more steam into turn one than Aegerter. Aegerter is going. But, he doesn't have but one opportunity left. Kallio runs wide. Lapped traffic in the way of other riders. Half a lap to go. Kallio is fighting for win sixteen. Aegerter for his first. This is big. Here he comes. He slides by anjd takes the lead. Can he hold the lead?
He goes defensive. Aegerter wins for the first time in his Moto 2 career!
#77 Dominique Aegerter CHE. Suter Rohrbach
Aegerter gets his first pole and his first win in the same race at the German GP. The next race for Moto 2 is at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, for the second appearance by MotoGP & company in the U.S. this year. That race is in a little less than a month. Looking forward to it.
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