It's time for Moto 2. 140 horsepower machines, using common, Honda 600cc engines, and Dunlop tires. Watch out for Moto 2 points leader Tito Rabat. Dominik Aegerter and Maverick Vinales, as well as Mika Kallio, will be ones to watch. This is going to be a hot one. 25 laps scheduled. This is going to be pure adrenaline, folks. Josh Herrin is the only American in Moto 2. He wants to get points for the second half of the season. Can Herrin have a good race today?
Mika Kallio is on pole with Esteve "Tito" Rabat second and Dominik Aegerter on the outside. 34 bikes are going to start this race. Here we go! It looks like Mika Kallio will take the lad early. He had a perfect launch on the start of this race. They fly through turn five. These bikes are a lot faster. It's cutthroat. Mika Kallio really wants to gap everyone. Maverick Vinales makes a move inside of Johann Zarco. Kallio has a good lead. 6/10ths of a second. It's almost an eternity in Moto 2. Kallio wants to go for it. Takaaki Nakagami in this one early.
Dominik Aegerter is pushing. He's going to be struggling a little bit on cold tires. Aegerter has to push, push, push. Simone Corsi and Maverick Vinales are also in this battle going into turns 15 and 16. Everyone wants the draft. The gap is almost two seconds between first and second spot. Saimone Corsi takes third away. Aegerter moves, and Maverick Vinales is just a spectator right now. Vinales looks inside Corsi. It's early yet. This race is going to really heat up.
There was a red flag. Azlan Shah, Mattia Passini, and one other rider, crashed. This race has been shortened to 16 laps. The riders will get a new opportunity. Go! An exact replay of the first one as we've got three more riders going down. Julian Simon is down. Not sure who else. Josh Herrin is involved and so is Tom Luthi. Herrin is having a really bad season after winning the AMA Superbike championship last year. Mika Kallio has a good setup on his motorcycle and is gaining ground in his lead.
He's got 1.2 seconds over everybody else. Tito Rabat is trying to run him down. Dominik Aegerter won at the Sachsenring in Germany last time out. Maverick Vinales wants a sweep of the American races. Dominik Aegerter gets passed by Maverick Vinales. Josh Herrin rejoins the race. Simone Corsi runs fast lap in the 1:37 range. The gap is closing between Rabat and Kallio. Josh Herrin and his bike are in the pits. Herrom was forced off the road and had to ditch the bike, trying to avoid Tom Luthi.
The gap is less than a second right now. Rabat is trying to reel in his team mate. Tito Rabat won here last year. Xavier Simeon has crashed and he can't believe it. He dumps it in turn two, with a low side wreck, pushing the front end. Work continues on Josh Herrin's motorcycle. Mika Kallio is picking up time as Simone Corsi makes an inside move. Now, Dominik Aegerter passes Simone Corsi back. Josh Herrin is back on track. But, Franco Morbidelli is down and so is Luis Salom.
Turn two, is calamity corner on the Indianapolis road course. Kallio continues to lead as we watch Sandro Cortese in sixth. There are classic motorcycles all over Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Fox Sport's Bob Varsha talked to Carmelo Espeleta, CEO of DORNA, which runs MotoGP. Espeleta says it's better to have two races in the U.S. vs. three. There's a plan to have American riders in the world championship. Mika Kallio dominates Moto 2 with four laps to go. Maverick Vinales passes Tito Rabat. Indianapolis wants MotoGP back. Expect announcements on that soon.
The paddock has been going crazy the last few days, because there will be an announcement on American road racing, and getting more American riders into MotoGP. We need to have these guys get into MotoGP. Now, for second, we see Rabat and Aegerter battling. Hold the handlebars gently, and have a loose grip. Use your legs and your mdiswection to control the bike. Dominik Aegerter chases Maverick Vinales. Maverick Vinales could have his eighth top five finish in ten races.
The fastest riders in the world have the slowest moving hands. Two laps to go now. Kallio wants his third straight podium, something he hasn't done since 2008. He won Jerez. He won Le Mans. Now, he wants Indianapolis. He spent time in MotoGP and ran here at Indy on a MotoGP bike. One lap to go. We watch a battle between Maverick Vinales and Dominik Aegerter. Tito Rabat is struggling, and is looking for something, fi the two blokes in front, make a mistake.
Watch turns eight and nine. No worries for Mika Kallio. Vinales protects the line and backs into the corner beautifully. Aegerter does the same. Marc Marquez is still riding a MotoGP bike like a Moto 2 bike. But Mika Kallio, has a win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway! He's won Jerez. He's won Le Mans. He's won Indy!
#36 Mika Kallio FIN. Kalex Valkeakoski
The next race for Moto 2 is next weekend at Brno in the Czech Republic.
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