Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) put in a wet weather masterclass at the Twin Ring Motegi, taking his third Moto2™ win at the track where he took his first World Championship victory back in 2013 in his rookie year. Pulling away over the latter laps, Marquez was followed home by Xavi Vierge (Tech 3 Racing), who took his first podium, and Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline Malaysia) as the Malaysian took his second podium in three races.
Polesitter and home hero Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) got the best start from pole, and the Japanese rider was holding firm at the front as the pack shuffled slightly behind him – with Marquez for close company as the two were gradually able to pull away. Marquez chose his moment to pounce to perfection, then pulling the pin once past Nakagami and beginning to disappear. He crossed the line a second and a half clear as the Japanese rider slipped backwards, with Vierge the leader of the chasing pack and able to hold off the incredible charge of Hafizh Syahrin.
Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46) took fourth after finding some serious late pace and wrapped up the Rookie of the Year fight, with Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) taking fifth and Nakagami then relegated to sixth. Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing) took seventh – ahead of Championship leader Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS).
With so much at stake for Morbidelli and key rival Tom Lüthi in the difficult conditions, the Championship remains largely unchanged as the Italian took P8 and the Swiss rider P11. Lüthi, initially off to a lightning start, then encountered visibility problems and a run off, regrouping to take some points and limit the damage.
Compatriot Dominique Aegerter (Kiefer Racing) dueled Morbidelli on the final lap but couldn’t quite get through, taking ninth, with Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Racing Team) completing the top ten – moving up an astounding twenty places from P30 on the grid.
Behind Lüthi, Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing) took P12, with Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP), wildcard Ikuhiro Enokido (Teluru Motobum Racing Team) and Tarran Mackenzie (Kiefer Racing) completing the points – the first for Mackenzie.
MOTUL GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN
Moto2 Race Classification 2017.
Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 25 | 73 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 134.4 | 32’08.901 |
2 | 20 | 97 | Xavi VIERGE | SPA | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 134.3 | +1.465 |
3 | 16 | 55 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | MAL | Petronas Raceline Malaysia | Kalex | 134.1 | +3.134 |
4 | 13 | 42 | Francesco BAGNAIA | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 134.0 | +5.415 |
5 | 11 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 134.0 | +5.618 |
6 | 10 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 133.9 | +6.163 |
7 | 9 | 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 133.8 | +7.597 |
8 | 8 | 21 | Franco MORBIDELLI | ITA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 133.6 | +11.400 |
9 | 7 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | Kiefer Racing | Suter | 133.6 | +11.572 |
10 | 6 | 7 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | ITA | Forward Racing Team | Kalex | 133.4 | +14.310 |
11 | 5 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SWI | CarXpert Interwetten | Kalex | 132.5 | +26.571 |
12 | 4 | 87 | Remy GARDNER | AUS | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 132.3 | +30.183 |
13 | 3 | 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Suter | 132.3 | +30.597 |
14 | 2 | 33 | Ikuhiro ENOKIDO | JPN | Teluru MOTOBUM Racing Team | Kalex | 132.2 | +32.037 |
15 | 1 | 6 | Tarran MACKENZIE | GBR | Kiefer Racing | Suter | 131.9 | +35.252 |
16 | 37 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | SPA | Speed Up Racing | Speed Up | 131.7 | +38.385 | |
17 | 27 | Iker LECUONA | SPA | Garage Plus Interwetten | Kalex | 131.6 | +40.934 | |
18 | 49 | Axel PONS | SPA | RW Racing GP | Kalex | 131.5 | +41.470 | |
19 | 40 | Fabio QUARTARARO | FRA | Pons HP40 | Kalex | 131.4 | +42.757 | |
20 | 45 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | JPN | Teluru SAG Team | Kalex | 131.4 | +43.147 | |
21 | 24 | Simone CORSI | ITA | Speed Up Racing | Speed Up | 131.3 | +45.410 | |
22 | 34 | Ryo MIZUNO | JPN | MuSASHi RT HARC-RRO | Kalex | 131.2 | +46.813 | |
23 | 89 | Khairul Idham PAWI | MAL | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 130.9 | +50.531 | |
24 | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | SPA | BE-A-VIP SAG Team | Kalex | 130.8 | +51.898 | |
25 | 2 | Jesko RAFFIN | SWI | Garage Plus Interwetten | Kalex | 130.7 | +53.699 | |
26 | 62 | Stefano MANZI | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 130.2 | +1’01.051 | |
27 | 57 | Edgar PONS | SPA | Pons HP40 | Kalex | 130.0 | +1’04.776 | |
28 | 9 | Jorge NAVARRO | SPA | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Kalex | 129.8 | +1’07.423 | |
Not Classified | ||||||||
41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 131.4 | 8 Laps | ||
5 | Andrea LOCATELLI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 131.4 | 9 Laps | ||
11 | Sandro CORTESE | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Suter | 124.6 | 9 Laps | ||
19 | Xavier SIMEON | BEL | Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2 | Kalex | 131.6 | 10 Laps | ||
10 | Luca MARINI | ITA | Forward Racing Team | Kalex | 121.9 | 14 Laps |
Moto2 World Standing 2017.
Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Kalex | ITA | 256 |
2 | Thomas LUTHI | Kalex | SWI | 232 |
3 | Alex MARQUEZ | Kalex | SPA | 180 |
4 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | POR | 166 |
5 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Kalex | ITA | 143 |
6 | Mattia PASINI | Kalex | ITA | 135 |
7 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Kalex | JPN | 127 |
8 | Dominique AEGERTER | Suter | SWI | 99 |
9 | Simone CORSI | Speed Up | ITA | 95 |
10 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | Kalex | MAL | 82 |
11 | Xavi VIERGE | Tech 3 | SPA | 78 |
12 | Brad BINDER | KTM | RSA | 67 |
13 | Jorge NAVARRO | Kalex | SPA | 60 |
14 | Luca MARINI | Kalex | ITA | 59 |
15 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | Kalex | ITA | 48 |
16 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Suter | GER | 47 |
17 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Kalex | FRA | 46 |
18 | Sandro CORTESE | Suter | GER | 35 |
19 | Remy GARDNER | Tech 3 | AUS | 21 |
20 | Axel PONS | Kalex | SPA | 17 |
21 | Xavier SIMEON | Kalex | BEL | 16 |
22 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Kalex | COL | 16 |
23 | Stefano MANZI | Kalex | ITA | 11 |
24 | Jesko RAFFIN | Kalex | SWI | 11 |
25 | Khairul Idham PAWI | Kalex | MAL | 9 |
26 | Isaac VIÑALES | Kalex | SPA | 7 |
27 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | Kalex | JPN | 7 |
28 | Ricard CARDUS | KTM | SPA | 7 |
29 | Joe ROBERTS | Kalex | USA | 6 |
30 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Kalex | ITA | 5 |
31 | Alex DE ANGELIS | Suter | RSM | 4 |
32 | Danny KENT | Suter | GBR | 3 |
33 | Edgar PONS | Kalex | SPA | 2 |
34 | Ikuhiro ENOKIDO | Kalex | JPN | 2 |
35 | Tarran MACKENZIE | Suter | GBR | 1 |
36 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | Speed Up | SPA | |
37 | Federico FULIGNI | Kalex | ITA | |
38 | Iker LECUONA | Kalex | SPA | |
39 | Julian SIMON | Kalex | SPA | |
40 | Ryo MIZUNO | Kalex | JPN | |
41 | Karel HANIKA | Kalex | CZE | |
42 | Axel BASSANI | Speed Up | ITA | |
43 | Steven ODENDAAL | NTS | RSA | |
44 | Jake DIXON | Suter | GBR |
Credits : Photos and content courtesy of Motogp.com