Moto2™: Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) takes his third Moto2™ win at the Japanese GP

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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

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Moto2™: Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) takes his third Moto2™ win at the Japanese GP

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MOTUL GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN

Moto2 World Standing 2017.

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