Moto2™ – Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) wins ten lap dash to slash Marini’s title lead.

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Italtrans Racing Team’s Enea Bastianini clinched a vital victory in the Moto2™ World Championship after rain heavily affected the Tissot Emilia Romagna and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix. Red flags were brought out after just seven laps as the heavens opened but, from the restart, the ultra-aggressive Bastianini edged clear to take the win ahead of SKY Racing Team VR46’s Marco Bezzecchi and EG 0,0 Marc VDS’ Sam Lowes and in doing so cut Luca Marini’s title lead down to just five points.

It was Marini from pole position who got a strong start but there was an even better one coming from Petronas Sprinta Racing’s Xavi Vierge as he squeezed his way into the lead and the hit the front of a Moto2™ race for the first time in 2020. There was a strong start coming from his Petronas Sprinta Racing teammate too as Jake Dixon settled into fifth.

Lap one was only just completed when Bezzecchi made a mistake into Turn 1, dropping himself back to sixth. Bastianini then got the gloves off nice and early with a brave dive past Marini, sending his compatriot wide and allowing Dixon to swoop through to third.

Marini recovered though and settled back into third, with Bastianini himself not wanting to hang around as he quickly set his sights on Vierge. He tried once again to muscle his way further up the field with an aggressive move on the Spaniard ahead, but Vierge saw it coming and was able to hold onto the lead for now.

In a frantic start, Bastianini then slipped back to third when Marini asserted some revenge on his title rival. He wasn’t the only SKY Racing Team VR46 man on the move too, as Bezzecchi’s recovery was aided by a move past Dixon into fourth. He then followed his teammate through on Bastianini too with a perfectly executed move into Turn 1.

Tennor American Racing’s Joe Roberts suffered a huge highside further back and required a trip to the medical centre as a result, before thankfully being declared fit. Then, out of the blue, the rain started to fall on the Rimini Riviera and chaos quickly follow. Raindrops on the rider’s visors clearly was effecting the leading group with Vierge, in particular, looking like he was struggling. The Catalan tentatively braked into Turn 7 and allowed Bastianini, Marini and Bezzecchi all to swoop through.

The rain was getting heavier by the second yet Fabio Di Giannantonio (Beta Tools Speed Up) continued to push to the limit and the Italian suddenly found himself in podium contention. Bastianini, meanwhile, was breaking clear at the front of the race when the red flags were brought out as a result of the rain starting to intensify. Riders filtered into pit lane and a ten lap restart was announced.

As the grid reformed for the restart, with everyone wearing slick tyres, the rain suddenly got heavier again and as the Moto2™ field set off on their Warm Up lap, the entire grid instantly pointed skywards and began wagging fingers to signal it was far too wet for the race to start. The rain eventually subsided and, after a short delay, a 10 lap dash for Emilia Romagna Grand Prix honours was underway.

Marini took control into Turn 1 with Bastianini settling in behind him. The Beast struck immediately though at Turn 4, sending the pair both high, wide and handsome with Vierge there to pounce, as the Spaniard took the lead. Marini, meanwhile, lost out big time with his fellow Italian’s move dropping him back to fifth. The Italtrans man then hit the front at the end of the opening lap, with Moto2™ delivering again from the restart.

Bastianini was given the chance to clear off into the distance with Vierge and Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) battling over second and he didn’t need a second invitation, stretching his lead out to a second with two laps now completed.

Marini lost out to Bezzecchi for fourth place and then he got beaten up by Sam Lowes over fifth place – valuable points slipping through the fingers of the Championship leader. Meanwhile, an incredible fight for the final podium places was ensuing with Vierge and Schrötter scrapping fiercely over second. The German moved through into Turn 7 and on the exit the pair were side by side, bashing elbows for good measure before contact again saw Vierge crash out.

Schrötter, as a result, dropped back to fourth and then fifth as Marini sliced with his way ahead of the Dynavolt Intact GP man. Lowes found himself up to third too, trying to go with the fastest man on the track with now three laps left: Marco Bezzecchi.

He was eight tenths quicker than Bastianini and suddenly, just like one week ago, Bezzecchi was hunting down the race leader at some rate. Two laps to go and it was seven tenths separating the two Italians at the front of the race with Bezzecchi visibly throwing everything at it. As the pair started the final lap, it was now just half a second.

Bastianini remained calm, though, and didn’t fold under the mounting pressure to take a third intermediate class win of 2020. Bezzecchi came across the line on the back wheel to take second, a third consecutive top three finish for the Italian, and he was closely followed by Briton’s Sam Lowes. Marini took 13 points in fourth place and kept hold off his World Championship lead but only just, with Bastianini now only five points adrift and breathing down his neck heading to Barcelona next weekend.

Schrötter eventually took fifth place, and will no doubt be trying to avoid Vierge when he’s back in the paddock. Dixon got the better of Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) by three tenths of a second for sixth place and his best-ever Grand Prix result. Rounding out the top ten was Di Giannantonio, Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Hector Gazro (FlexBox HP40), who jumped up a place following a penalty for Nicolo Bulega (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) for exceeding track limits on the final lap.

Top 10:
1. Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team)
2. Marco Bezzecchi (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 0.720
3. Sam Lowes (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) + 1.124
4. Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46) + 2.310
5. Marcel Schrötter (Liqui Moly Intact GP) + 4.123
6. Jake Dixon (Petronas Sprinta Racing) + 7.201
7. Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) + 7.558
8. Fabio Di Giannantonio (Beta Tools Speed Up) + 7.704
9. Tom Lüthi (Liqui Moly Intact GP) + 7.762
10. Hector Garzo (FlexBox HP 40) + 8.249.

GP TISSOT DELL’EMILIA ROMAGNA E RIVIERA DI RIMINI

Moto2 Race Classification 2020.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	33	Enea BASTIANINI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	156.5	16’11.977
2	20	72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	156.4	+0.720
3	16	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	156.3	+1.124
4	13	10	Luca MARINI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	156.1	+2.310
5	11	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	155.8	+4.132
6	10	96	Jake DIXON	GBR	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	155.3	+7.201
7	9	9	Jorge NAVARRO	SPA	Beta Tools Speed Up	Speed Up	155.3	+7.558
8	8	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Beta Tools Speed Up	Speed Up	155.2	+7.704
9	7	12	Thomas LUTHI	SWI	Liqui Moly Intact GP	Kalex	155.2	+7.762
10	6	40	Hector GARZO	SPA	Flexbox HP 40	Kalex	155.2	+8.249
11	5	11	Nicolò BULEGA	ITA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	155.2	+8.141
12	4	24	Simone CORSI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	155.1	+8.663
13	3	44	Aron CANET	SPA	Inde Aspar Team Moto2	Speed Up	155.0	+9.189
14	2	19	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	154.5	+12.538
15	1	62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	MV Agusta Forward Racing	MV Agusta	154.4	+12.744
16		54	Mattia PASINI	ITA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	154.4	+12.935
17		42	Marcos RAMIREZ	SPA	Tennor American Racing	Kalex	154.4	+13.227
18		37	Augusto FERNANDEZ	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	154.3	+13.779
19		55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAL	Inde Aspar Team Moto2	Speed Up	154.2	+14.525
20		57	Edgar PONS	SPA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	154.1	+15.028
21		35	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	154.0	+15.511
22		64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	153.6	+18.160
23		45	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	JPN	Red Bull KTM Ajo	Kalex	153.6	+18.079
24		27	Andi Farid IZDIHAR	INA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	153.1	+21.265
25		7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	Flexbox HP 40	Kalex	152.5	+25.587
Not Classified
		74	Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI	POL	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	151.1	2 Laps
		97	Xavi VIERGE	SPA	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	155.2	5 Laps
		16	Joe ROBERTS	USA	Tennor American Racing	Kalex		0 Lap
		99	Kasma DANIEL	MAL	Onexox TKKR SAG Team	Kalex		0 Lap

Moto2 World Standing 2020

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Luca MARINI	Kalex	ITA	125
2	Enea BASTIANINI	Kalex	ITA	120
3	Marco BEZZECCHI	Kalex	ITA	105
4	Sam LOWES	Kalex	GBR	83
5	Jorge MARTIN	Kalex	SPA	79
6	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	Kalex	JPN	68
7	Xavi VIERGE	Kalex	SPA	59
8	Aron CANET	Speed Up	SPA	53
9	Thomas LUTHI	Kalex	SWI	52
10	Marcel SCHROTTER	Kalex	GER	48
11	Joe ROBERTS	Kalex	USA	45
12	Remy GARDNER	Kalex	AUS	41
13	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	Kalex	ITA	39
14	Augusto FERNANDEZ	Kalex	SPA	36
15	Jorge NAVARRO	Speed Up	SPA	28
16	Jake DIXON	Kalex	GBR	22
17	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	Speed Up	ITA	20
18	Hector GARZO	Kalex	SPA	18
19	Hafizh SYAHRIN	Speed Up	MAL	17
20	Nicolò BULEGA	Kalex	ITA	17
21	Stefano MANZI	MV Agusta	ITA	16
22	Simone CORSI	MV Agusta	ITA	7
23	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NTS	NED	5
24	Marcos RAMIREZ	Kalex	SPA	5
25	Lorenzo DALLA PORTA	Kalex	ITA	5
26	Dominique AEGERTER	NTS	SWI	4
27	Somkiat CHANTRA	Kalex	THA	3
28	Edgar PONS	Kalex	SPA
29	Mattia PASINI	Kalex	ITA
30	Andi Farid IZDIHAR	Kalex	INA
31	Kasma DANIEL	Kalex	MAL
32	Jesko RAFFIN	NTS	SWI
33	Alejandro MEDINA	Speed Up	SPA
34	Piotr BIESIEKIRSKI		POL

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com

Moto2™ – Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) wins ten lap dash to slash Marini’s title lead.

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GP TISSOT DELL’EMILIA ROMAGNA E RIVIERA DI RIMINI

Moto2 World Standing 2020

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