It is a beautiful day for motorcycle racing, ahead of Moto2 at Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, Spain. Post time weather conditions 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees Fahrenheit) air temp, and 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit), track temperature. As you are aware, we started the weekend, on a sad note, with the death of Moto2 rider Luis Salom. He has had many great tributes paid to him. Luis was racing in Moto2 and finished on the podium, in Qatar. There was a moment of silence earlier for Salom's memory. The track has been modified, and Johann Zarco, Moto2 world champ, scoring pole. He won from pole here, last year. Can he do it again? Franco Morbidelli had three crashes in practice, and one, was a massive off.
Tom Luthi is also going to be competitive. He took his first podium place here, way, way back in 2003 in the 125cc class, when he was runner up to MotoGP star, Dani Pedrosa. Sam Lowes, with a slim two point lead in the championship, starts on the second row of the grid. Takaaki Nakagami, starting fourth on the grid, was fastest in the morning warmup. Sam Lowes qualified fifth after wrecking in turn nine in qualifying. Axel Pons starts his home race and he finished a career best sixth last time out in Italy at Mugello. Alex Marquez qualified seventh. Lorenzo Baldassari says his goal is to stay at the sharp end with the leading group.
Alex Marquez has been running well this weekend, and he won here in Moto3. He is seventh on the grid. Lorenzo Baldassari starts eighth. Marcel Schrotter rolls off in ninth. Sandro Cortese rounds out the top ten. Eleventh is Simone Corsi. Sam Lowes is the only rider to run on the soft option Dunlop tire on this grid. The rest have gone with the harder option front tire. Jonas Folger is 12th and he needs a decent result, because it's been going downhill ever since he announced he will move to MotoGP with the Tech3 Yamaha team, next year. Hafizh Syahrin is 13th. Syahrin is the guy who can make starts off the Moto2 grid, like he's shot out of a cannon.
In 14th it's Dominique Aegerter. He started the 2016 campaign with a couple of top five efforts, but since then, has struggled. 15th is Miguel Oliveira. A man who picked up his first podium here at Catalunya in Moto3 in 2012. Xavier Simeon of Belgium is 16th. Again, the front row is Johann Zarco on pole, with Alex Rins, and Tom Luthi. Australian Remy Gardner (son of 500cc Grand Prix champion, Wayne Gardner) is a stand-in rider this weekend for Italian Alessandro Tonucci, who is injured. Caboose on the field is Malaysian wildcard rider Ramdan Rosli.
Previous winners of this race include Johann Zarco, Tito Rabat, Pol Espargaro, Andrea Ianonne, Stefan Bradl, Tetsuya Takahashi, Alvaro Bautista, the late Marco Simoncelli, and Jorge Lorenzo. If Zarco wins today, he will be the first rider to win two consecutive intermediate class races at Catalunya Barcelona since Randy De Puniet accomplished that feat. De Puniet did so way back in 2004. The bikes are on their warm up lap. The weather conditions, remain unchanged, and we are ready, as the bikes and riders come to the grid.
Only Tito Rabat and Marc Marquez have won more Moto2 races than Johann Zarco has. We're ready, for a start. Moto2 at Catalunya, is underway! Tom Luthi gets a great start, but the same cannot be said for Johann Zarco. Alex Rins got bogged down as well. Tom Luthi leads and Takaaki Nakagami is up to second. Hafizh Syahrin, is proving us right as he's moved into the top six already! Sam Lowes is now up to seventh place. Alex Rins jumps from fourth to second. Alex Marquez has passed Sam Lowes early on in this contest.
Dominique Aegerter is beginning to close in on Sam Lowes, as Marcel Schrotter runs wide and off the road. This race will last 23 laps. Alex Rins tries to pass Tom Luthi for the lead, and he does! Luthi loses momentum and Zarco can capitalize, too. Hafizh Syahrin and Simone Corsi are also moving up. Sam Lowes is losing places as Alex Rins is beginning to open a lead gap. Xavier Simeon has crashed out of the race here in Spain. It's true. Game over for Simeon. Hafizh Syahrin has now moved all the way from 13th to fifth. Just amazing! Lorenzo Baldassari makes a pass on Takaaki Nakagami.
Nakagami, and Sandro Cortese, are both struggling. Alex Marquez makes a move and passes three riders in one go! Baldassari fights off the challenge from Nakagami and passes him back. Alex Marquez slides his motorcycle, as Lorenzo Baldassari goes inside Takaaki Nakagami through turn five. Johann Zarco sets fastest lap of the race thus far at 1:49.968. Sam Lowes remains ninth in the running order right now. Baldassari tries to pass Simone Corsi, but no dice. Oh no! Simone Corsi and Lorenzo Baldassari! The two Italians, make contact, and Corsi gets the worst of it, ditching his motorcycle in the gravel trap.
Corsi went into that corner way too deep. The battle at the front is now between Alex Rins and Johann Zarco, with some room between them, and Tom Luthi in third spot. The stewards will investigate the Baldassari/Corsi kerfuffle. Both Dynavolt team riders are having issues. Jonas Folger is 13th while Sandro Cortese is 15th. Axel Pons moves underneath Dominique Aegerter. Franco Morbidelli has made his way from 18th on the grid up to 11th spot. Sam Lowes may lose his points lead in the Moto2 championship after this race concludes. The gap between Johann Zarco and Tom Luthi is nearly a second.
Alex Marquez is running 3/10ths of a second faster than is Tom Luthi, at this stage of the race. Meanwhile, no further action shall be taken on the Baldassari/Corsi incident. Game over for Sandro Cortese as he heads for the garage. Cortese retired as some type of fluid came spewing out of his motorcycle and onto his helmet visor. Speculation is that the brake fluid reservoir broke. Alex Marquez is 3/10ths of a second faster than is Tom Luthi at this stage. Lorenzo Baldassari meanwhile, is tooling around in 23rd place. Baldassari is a full ten seconds behind his team mate at Forward Racing, Luca Marini, running 15th.
Alex Rins runs slightly wide, allowing Johann Zarco to close up. Tom Luthi in third, is falling into the clutches of Hafizh Syahrin. Syahrin moves back past Alex Marquez for fourth spot. Sandro Cortese's issues stemmed from a new radiator, that had a minute crack in it. Alex Marquez and Hafizh Syahrin are locked in a battle, when they should be making headway towards Tom Luthi. Their tussling is allowing Sam Lowes to close in. The scrap between Marquez and Syahrin is beginning to simmer down a bit. Or, maybe not. Syahrin still wants to get past Marquez. Yours truly, spoke too soon.
Sam Lowes runs wide, and he's having handling issues with the Federal Oil Gresini bike. Rins leads Zarco by 2/10ths of a second. Zarco closes up on Rins. Alex Marquez is within striking distance of Tom Luthi, and edging away from Hafizh Syahrin. Game over, it appears, for Danny Kent, and Xavier Simeon's crashed Speed Up bike is also in the lane right now. Takaaki Nakagami has passed Sam Lowes. Alex Rins makes a mistake through turn ten, and again, Johann Zarco closes up. Alex Marquez has eked out a second's worth of a gap, and broken the resolve of Hafizh Syahrin. This is incentive for Takaaki Nakagami to try and push toward Syahrin for fifth.
Oh dear. Alex Marquez is falling down the order, and for good reason. He is out of the race. Marquez was catching Tom Luthi. Marquez could have had his first career Moto2 podium. Six crashes in seven races for Marquez. Alex Marquez is down in 23rd. Tom Luthi is now safely in third. Sam Lowes hangs onto Takaaki Nakagami. With the high track temperatures, tire conservation is crucial. Ratthapark Willairot has also fallen off his motorcycle. With just nine laps left, Takaaki Nakagami has now made it to fourth place. Takaaki Nakagami is now gaining on Tom Luthi. Has Luthi used up his tires?
Nakagami makes a block pass into turn ten and gets around Luthi. Luca Marini was in the points, but he has also crashed out. He crashed at turn 15, the final chicane, and makes the dive for the pit lane. Marini's team mate, Lorenzo Baldassari has fought his way back to a decent result. He could very well score a single point in this race as there is a scrap for 15th involving Xavi Vierge, Axel Pons, Remy Gardner, Alessandro Tonucci, Isaac Vinales, and Lorenzo Baldassari. The letters NLYF are written on Alex Rins' pitboard. Never lose your focus. Meanwhile, Dominique Aegerter is headed for the house. His motorcycle is comprehensively wrecked, and may have lost the rear wheel.
Takaaki Nakagami is putting massive pressure on Tom Luthi and Hafizh Syahrin. Nakagami has the pace, but can't get away because of his full fuel tank. What does Luthi have left in the locker? Dominique Aegerter may have had a tire puncture. He's still sitting on the motorcycle, and the rear wheel has come off. With just seven laps left, Johann Zarco has made his move and gotten around Alex Rins. Has Alex Rins been caught in a situation using too much front tire? Takaaki Nakagami has passed Tom Luthi for the final podium place. Nakagami looks for his first podium for Honda Team Asia, since Misano, last year.
Sam Lowes is sixth, 1.3 seconds in-arrears of Hafizh Syahrin. Johann Zarco, continues to lead. The battle is on for the final step on the podium. Luthi vs. Nakagami vs. Syahrin. Nakagami is fastest of the three with a lap at 1:51.387. Syahrin runs a 1:51.390, and Luthi a 1:51.756. Luthi runs wide and allows Nakagami to pass. Johann Zarco has a half a second on Alex Rins. Rins has to do his best to catch Johann Zarco. Five laps to go now. Rins probably won't be able to gain back the time on Zarco.
The gap grows to 6/10ths. This race is getting down to business. Johann Zarco seems to be under pressure. Lorenzo Baldassari and Remy Gardner have moved into the last two points paying positions. Zarco leads Rins by a half a second at the start of lap 20. Rins is running out of time. Last year, Zarco won with Rins second. This is a second home race for Zarco who lives in the south of France. It is closer for family and friends to come to Spain than to go to his home race at Le Mans which is in north central France. This is looking good for Johann Zarco who leads by 7/10ths of a second. It's Zarco's race to lose.
Tom Luthi has a problem and Hafizh Syahrin will catch him, as Takaaki Nakagami is well clear of Luthi. Xavi Vierge has passed Remy Gardner for the final points paying spot. The top fifteen is Zarco, Rins, Nakagami, Luthi, Syahrin, Lowes, Jonas Folger, Axel Pons, Miguel Oliveira, Marcel Schrotter, Mattia Pasini, Franco Morbidelli, Xavier Simeon, Lorenzo Baldassari, and Xavi Vierge. The fight for the final point is between Vierge, Remy Gardner, and Isaac Vinales. Three laps to go. Johann Zarco continues to stay in the championship hunt. He has a second lead over Alex Rins.
Syahrin tries Luthi, but can't make it. Zarco is 8/10ths of a second quicker than Alex Rins, at 1:50.6. Johann Zarco is two seconds clear of Alex Rins. He has run a tactically perfect race. Two laps to go. It is now the last lap. Zarco is 1.2 seconds quicker than Rins. Hafizh Syahrin has made a move for fourth ahead of Tom Luthi. Xavi Vierge has crashed out on the penultimate lap. Remy Gardner, moves into the points, and will score one. Luthi fights back on Syahrin. Does he run wide and leave the door open? Yes. Hafizh Syahrin takes fourth place back. Johann Zarco has won in Barcelona!
#5 Johann Zarco FRA. Kalex
Rins, Nakagami, Syahrin, Luthi, and Lowes, complete the top six. Jonas Folger, Miguel Oliveira, Axel Pons, Marcel Schrotter, Franco Morbidelli, Mattia Pasini, Xavier Simeon, Lorenzo Baldassari, and Remy Gardner, complete the top fifteen finishers here in Spain. Alex Marquez finishes way down in eighteenth place. Alex Rins and Johann Zarco pay tribute to their fallen competitor, Luis Salom. Zarco has been nothing short of brilliant in the last two races. Zarco may end up in MotoGP with Tech3 Yamaha, perhaps. It's never been done where someone has won two straight Moto2 championships and then, has gone to MotoGP the following season.
The next race in Moto2 happened at the Cathedral of Speed, the Dutch TT at Assen in Holland. Stay tuned for that race, coming up in the not too distant future.
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