We are set for Moto2 in Holland, at the TT circuit Assen. Weather conditions are lovely, despite a threat of rain. We have 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), for an air temperature. Track temperature is 23 degrees Celsius (73 degrees Fahrenheit). The forecast for the rest of the day is dodgy, however. Tom Luthi has pole, 23 points behind Alex Rins in the points. Rins is the current Moto2 points leader. Tom Luthi has had a great weekend, even in the rain interrupted qualifying session. Tom Luthi and Johann Zarco are the two to watch. This is Luthi's second pole in Moto2 in 2016. Tom Luthi had a chance to test the all new 2017 KTM MotoGP bike which will debut next year. For Luthi, this is only his fifth career Moto2 pole.
Luthi trails Alex Rins by 23 points in the championship picture. Only ten points split the top three. Rins, over Sam Lowes, and Johann Zarco. Unlike MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3, the two junior classes, don't have flag to flag rules, and the races will be stopped if the rain gets too heavy. It doesn't look as though there is rain in the area right now, over the Assen TT circuit. But, you can never be too sure of the weather. Johann Zarco has done pretty well this season as the reigning champion of the series. Dominique Aegerter starts in third place. Sam Lowes is fourth. Aegerter makes his first front row start since Italy in 2014 if I am not mistaken. Franco Morbidelli is fifth, and needs a podium.
Takaaki Nakagami qualifies sixth. He was fastest in the morning warmup. Sandro Cortese rolls off seventh. Eighth is Alex Rins. Will this race go it's full distance? Will we have to go to 2/3rds distance? Jonas Folger is ninth. Alex Rins has to keep focused if he wants a good finish here at Assen, "the Cathedral of Speed", the most legendary motorcycle racing track in the world. Alex Rins will move up to MotoGP next year, and join the factory Suzuki team. Ninth is Jonas Folger. Folger has just one podium in Jerez, Spain. Hafizh Syahrin, in 20th, could move up through the field very quickly.
Lorenzo Baldassari rounds out the top ten. Miguel Oliveira has had good showings in the last few races. He won Moto3 at Assen last year. Rins leads the championship by eight points. Mattia Pasini is a season best 12th on the grid. He has struggled though, falling off the bike in the morning warmup. Alex Marquez rolls off 13th. Next up is the Belgian rider, Xavier Simeon. Simeon is the top qualified rider on a Speed Up branded chassis. Aegerter third. Zarco second (looking for three wins in a row). On pole, it's Tom Luthi, looking for his first win since March in the season opener in Qatar.
24 laps scheduled for Moto2. We are ready to race, in Holland. Remy Gardner is now the permanent replacement on bike #87 at Tasco Racing, for Alessandro Tonucci. 27 bikes will start. We're on the warmup lap, and the Moto2 race of the Dutch TT weekend is about to launch. It'll be a straight shootout with all but one rider on the same tire setup. The opening laps of this race will be crucial. Green flag at the back. We're ready to race, in Assen, Holland, Moto2 style! Lights out, and away we go! Tom Luthi, Alex Rins, and Sam Lowes all get solid launches out of the starting blocks. Zarco moves to seond, and Takaaki Nakagami is on a real charge! Nakagami goes from sixth to fourth in one corner!
Tom Luthi flies. Alex Rins, sinks like a stone, right at the beginning. Sam Lowes gets around Johann Zarco for third. Franco Morbidelli has also lost spots, and Miguel Oliveira runs wide. Rins is back in tenth place. Zarco and Nakagami got crossed up through the third and fourth turns. Based on race pace, it looks like Tom Luthi has the edge over everyone else. Rins passes Jonas Folger for ninth. Dominique Aegerter tries making a move on Tom Luthi. The two Swiss riders are going at it early on in Moto2. But, Aegerter runs wide. Sam Lowes moves to second, and Franco Morbidelli runs a shade wide.
Takaaki Nakagami pours the steam on Johann Zarco and flies through on him. A bit too hot for Zarco? Perhaps. Morbidelli wants a piece of this, too. A move through the Stekkenwal wasn't going to work too well. Sandro Cortese is currently seventh. Alex Rins is tenth and cannot pass Xavier Simeon, who has made up five places since the start. These 600cc motorcycles scream their way through the Ramshoek and into the Geert Timmer chicane. Dominique Aegerter aggressively moves inside Sam Lowes, as Lorenzo Baldassari is the first to set a fastest lap in this race. 1:38.163 for Baldassari.
Finally, Morbidelli is too hot for Johann Zarco to handle, and he sticks it up the inside, for the pass. Advantage, Morbidelli. He holds the place as they weave through Strubben. Aegerter surely has the oomph out of the Timmer chicane. Game over for Axel Pons. Hard rear tire = not very good decision on race day. Pons has crashed out. Coming into Assen, Pons was on a roll, with three straight top ten finishes for the first time in his career. That streak is snapped, today. Morbidelli wants by Nakagami, and he makes his move. Alex Rins has passed Simone Corsi and Xavier Simeon, both riding Speed Up chassis'. Rins has to book it. He's three seconds behind Luthi. Chop chop, Alex, if you want to be in contention for this race, sunshine.
Zarco could put a move on Nakagami into the Timmer chicane. Zarco moves past Nakagami as Sandro Cortese has passed Lorenzo Baldassari. Johann Zarco, meanwhile, he's lost at least three places. Nakagami rode into the corner aggressively, pushing Zarco wide. Lorenzo Baldassari and Sandro Cortese, sweep through. Franco Morbidelli has the same mindset. Pull out all the stops. Sam Lowes drops to fourth, and Morbidelli is now second. On the most recent lap, Alex Rins was half a second quicker than Tom Luthi. Sam Lowes could have a problem with his motorcycle. He seems to be down on power and is losing spots hand over fist.
Onboard with Lowes, nothing sounds untoward with the bike. The 600cc engine is running at full speed. Into the corner, Franco Morbidelli takes the lead away from Tom Luthi. Sam Lowes' most recent lap was a 1:39.9. He is 1.7 seconds slower than Morbidelli, and, Johann Zarco is now going for it. Morbidelli makes the right move on Luthi through the Timmer chicane, to take the race lead. Many riders in the front of the pack are looking for their first wins. They really have nothing to lose. Morbidelli, Nakagami, Baldassari, Aegerter (who has had one win, but is looking for another). A gap is now forming back to the trio of Lowes, Zarco, and Rins.
Franco Morbidelli, Tom Luthi, and Takaaki Nakagami are still the top three. Simone Corsi is now right behind Alex Rins. Nakagami leads the chasing pack who is going after Morbidelli. Rins runs a tad wide. Johann Zarco is seventh, and he can't get past Sam Lowes. Rins can't fight Corsi's attack right now. Morbidelli runs wide into Strubben, and he's lost some time. As they run, the Moto2 points table is very close. Five points separate Alex Rins and Sam Lowes, and only three points separate Lowes and Zarco. Luthi is six more points in-arrears. Nakagami continues to close up on Morbidelli.
Lorenzo Baldassari is trying to make a move on Dominique Aegerter. But, Nakagami is inching closer to Morbidelli, and neither of them has won before. Whatever went wrong with Sam Lowes, is now nonexistent. He's gotten back on terms with the rest of the field. Lorenzo Baldassari wants by Dominique Aegerter, but can't make a pass. There has not been a Grand Prix win for a Japanese rider in six years. 2010 was the last time. Hiroshi Aoyama or perhaps another rider. Is Aegerter holding up a train of riders? Johann Zarco has now passed Sam Lowes for sixth spot. Side by side down through the Veenslang. Zarco catches Baldassari and Aegerter, and says, "thank you very much for leaving the door open! I'll run right through!"
Baldassari got on the inside of Aegerter, lost momentum, and now, Aegerter, has actually been demoted from fourth to seventh place. Zarco in fourth is chiseling time out of his gap to Tom Luthi. Is Luthi settling into the race rhythm? Or, does he have something left in the locker for the end? Nakagami makes a move, and takes both Morbidelli, and Luthi for the lead! Lorenzo Baldassari is dragging Dominique Aegerter and Sandro Cortese with him. Baldassari runs wide at the Strubben and loses drive, trying to make a pass, and nearly nudges a rider out of the way. "Excuse me. May I play through?"
Nakagami, Morbidelli, and Luthi, remain the top three. Sam Lowes, meanwhile, is trying to make a move on Lorenzo Baldassari. At the moment, Alex Rins runs eighth. Keep in mind, he leads the points. Simone Corsi and Sandro Cortese, follow. The rest of the top fifteen has , Jonas Folger, Alex Marquez, Miguel Oliveira, and Julian Simon. Morbidelli squeezes inside Nakagami, and makes a daring, and nearly impossible pass! Yours truly is chuckling at that cheeky bit of riding. Ladies and gentlemen, that's what you call a squeeze play! Nakagami isn't finished. He wants a piece of Morbidelli, and now.
Morbidelli lets him go. Morbidelli is hung out to dry. He's lost a place to Tom Luthi, and now Johann Zarco wants in on this party. Johann Zarco is really pushing through turns six and seven right now. This is through Stekkenwal. Zarco had his first ever podium here at Assen a year ago. Zarco is the defending race champion here at The Cathedral, in Moto2. Simone Corsi makes a bold pass on Alex Rins through De Bult. Trying to fight for a podium, it looks like Dominique Aegerter has burned up his tires. Will Simone Corsi join the scrap for sixth? Nakagami is half a second clear of Luthi at the front. Morbidelli is still trapped behind Zarco.
Rins also makes a move on Aegerter. Alex Marquez gets around Jonas Folger for 12th. Luthi can't stay with Nakagami right now. A few years back at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when MotoGP raced there, Nakagami was going for the win, checking out on the field, and he unfortunately overcooked his tires and got mugged by the rest of the field, sinking back into a lower finishing position. Tito Rabat and Pol Espargaro (both now MotoGP riders), were the ones who stole his thunder in a couple Moto2 races a few years ago. Nakagami has no worries about getting mugged here. He just set fastest lap at 1:38 flat. 1:38.059.
A few more gray clouds hovering around, as we close on 2/3rds distance. Zarco is closing on Luthi. Zarco can't find a pass on Luthi. Nakagami's bike is streaking away into the distance. Zarco wants by Luthi, ASAP. He's laying down black streaks of rubber on the road. That's how hard he's pushing and not even for P1. Zarco isn't close enough to make the move yet. Morbidelli sets his personal best lap at 1:38.163. Alex Rins passes Simone Corsi. But, he's struggling to keep up the pace of the leaders who are scorching this place. Zarco has passed Luthi and he sees Takaaki Nakagami up ahead.
The gap is 1.4 seconds. Morbidelli squeezes inside Luthi. If the other riders in the top five start scrapping with each other, Nakagami could be laughing all the way to the bank here. Johann Zarco is the one who can reel in Nakagami, as long as he doesn't crack under Morbidelli's pressure. Meanwhile, Morbidelli charges past Zarco for second. Another 1:38 flat for Nakagami, taking fastest lap down to 1:38.055. Franco Morbidelli wants his first podium finish of the season. Nakagami leads everyone else by 2.6 seconds. It could be too late for his pursuers even with eleven laps left in the race. Nakagami keeps steaming along. He's three seconds ahead of everyone else!
Nakagami has cut two straight laps around the TT circuit Assen, with the exact same lap time! Holy smokes! As the points are now, Zarco would lead by a single point over Alex Rins going into the next race in Germany at the Sachsenring. Sam Lowes is eight points behind Rins, with Tom Luthi a further 20 points behind. Luca Marini on the #10 Forward Racing Kalex has crashed out of 18th place. Game over. Simone Corsi remains glued to Alex Rins' rear wheel with ten laps remaining. I stand corrected. Marini is back into the race. Nakagami cuts a 1:38.3 on this lap. Hafizh Syahrin has also retired from this race.
Lorenzo Baldassari takes fourth from Tom Luthi who is also under pressure from Sam Lowes. Lorenzo Baldassari has a damaged right front brake. Tom Luthi is losing grip through Duikersloot corner and Sam Lowes will pass him. The handling on Luthi's motorcycle has totally gone away. Luthi's tires are trashed and he's all over the shop here. Luthi's hopes of a championship are fading away. Zarco takes 2/10ths of a second out of Nakagami's lead. Morbidelli has fastest lap this time at 1:38.233. Nakagami wants to be the first Japanese rider to win in the middleweight motorcycle world championship since Shoya Tomizawa did it in Qatar in 2010. Nakagami has a three second gap.
Luca Marini has rejoined the race. Danny Kent passes Julian Simon for 14th. Tiny little spots of rain are falling. We are now past 2/3rds distance. Whoa! Sam Lowes almost gets thrown off his bike! That was as close as you can get to wrecking, without actually falling off! Lowes nearly lost it in the Strubben corner. Tom Luthi, down and out. He has crashed at Stekkenwal. The rain flags are being waved around the circuit. The track might start cooling down as Johann Zarco breaks the resolve of Franco Morbidelli in third place. It will be just his second podium finish. Nakagami is holding station.
Completing lap 20, Nakagami holds the advantage. Four laps left. Johann Zarco has a lot to lose, and needs to push. He's quick in sector one. Nakagami takes 3/10ths out of Zarco. Zarco might push a little longer, but might surrender. Franco Morbidelli is dropping into the clutches of Lorenzo Baldassari. The wind is picking up and the temperature is dropping. Correction. The last Japanese rider to win a Grand Prix in Moto2, or 250cc competition, was Yuki Takahashi in 2010 at Catalunya Barcelona riding for Tech3. Three laps left. Zarco is catching Nakagami. Will he have enough left in the locker?
Rain flags reappear. Two laps left for Nakagami. This race isn't over yet. Johann Zarco was a full second quicker than Nakagami on the previous lap. Nakagami will be more nervous whereas Zarco can use Nakagami as his reference. The race has been red flagged. The wind and rain are getting stronger. Takaaki Nakagami wins his first ever Grand Prix motorcycle race in Moto2! It's his 112th Grand Prix. Johann Zarco is the first bloke to congratulate Nakagami. Race Direction and the marshals called that perfectly. At the end, Julian Simon and Danny Kent, have crashed. Zarco and Morbidelli are on the podium.
Julian Simon ran across Danny Kent and chopped him in the rear tire, causing both riders to go down. But, the Moto2 race for the Dutch TT is all about Takaaki Nakagami!
#30 Takaaki Nakagami JPN. Kalex
The next race for Moto2, was run in Germany at the Sachsenring. Stay tuned for a report on that event, coming soon.
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