Moto2™: Fabio Quartararo (HDR – Speed Up Racing) takes flawless first Grand Prix win.

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Fabio Quartararo (HDR – Speed Up Racing) stormed to a stunning first Grand Prix victory at the Gran Premi Monster Energy de Catalunya to take his first podium finish since Assen 2015 in Moto3™, with the Frenchman finishing 2.492 seconds ahead of Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) after his dominant display. The Portuguese rider came through from P17 on the grid to his stunning P2 finish, with home rider and last year’s race winner Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) taking the final step on the podium in third.

It wasn’t the start the Frenchman would have wanted from pole position, dropping down to fourth on the opening lap as Marquez grabbed the holeshot going down into Turn 1, with Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing Team VR46) slotting in behind. Oliveira again produced a lightning start to get into the top six on the first lap after starting 17th, and by lap 6 the Portuguese rider was shadowing Marquez in second.

The number 44 hit the front a lap later, but Quatararo was on the move. The double FIM CEV Repsol Moto3™ Champion passed Marquez into Turn 10, and set his sights on Oliveira, making his move at Turn 4 on lap 9 after the KTM rider ran slightly wide.

From there, it was an exhibition job for the 19-year-old. Quartararo was consistently the only rider to dip into the 1:43s, setting new lap records lap after lap to create a 2.2 second gap to Oliveira by lap 18. Meanwhile, the second-place man had pulled away from Marquez, with the Spaniard holding off the chasing Xavi Vierge (Dynavolt Intact GP) and the recovering teammate Schrötter, who ran wide at Turn 1 on lap 6 after setting the fastest lap of the race.

Quartararo took the checkered flag 2.492 seconds ahead, getting himself onto the top step of the podium for the first time since 2014. Marquez held off Schrötter to earn a home turf podium, and he now sits 20 points behind Bagnaia heading to Assen.

Vierge was a solid fifth at his home GP, with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) holding off a late charge from Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40) to finish 6th, the Italian 0.087 behind in 7th. Championship leader Bagnaia had a disappointing day in eighth, seeing his overall standings lead cut to just one point over Oliveira.

Sam Lowes (Swiss Innovative Investors) had a phenomenal ride in ninth after being forced to start from the back of the grid with a fuel pump issue, with teammate Iker Lecuona rounding out the top ten. Andrea Locatelli (Italtrans Racing Team) picked up points again in P11, with Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2) crossing the line 12th. Tetsuta Nagashima (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was a solid 13th, with replacement rider Augusto Fernandez (Pons HP 40) topping off a very good weekend in P14.

Hero of the day was undoubtedly Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing), who returned to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after breaking two legs in a motocross accident – the Australian took the last point in P15.

Joan Mir (EG 0,0 Marc VDS), Romano Fenati (Marinelli Snipers Team) and Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) were big name fallers in the race – riders ok.

A phenomenal day then for fabulous Fabio in Barcelona, who kick starts his Moto2™ career with a super victory – can he continue this impeccable form? Meanwhile, heading into Assen, the Championship battle has closed right up…Will Bagnaia fight back at the Dutch TT?

GRAN PREMI MONSTER ENERGY DE CATALUNYA

Moto2 Race Classification 2018.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	FRA	HDR – Speed Up Racing	Speed Up	159.1	38’22.059
2	20	44	Miguel OLIVEIRA	POR	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	159.0	+2.492
3	16	73	Alex MARQUEZ	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	158.9	+3.485
4	13	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	158.8	+4.398
5	11	97	Xavi VIERGE	SPA	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	158.8	+4.687
6	10	41	Brad BINDER	RSA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	158.6	+7.637
7	9	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	Pons HP40	Kalex	158.6	+7.724
8	8	42	Francesco BAGNAIA	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	158.4	+10.611
9	7	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Swiss Innovative Investors	KTM	158.2	+13.909
10	6	27	Iker LECUONA	SPA	Swiss Innovative Investors	KTM	158.1	+15.124
11	5	5	Andrea LOCATELLI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	158.0	+15.983
12	4	24	Simone CORSI	ITA	Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2	Kalex	158.0	+16.405
13	3	45	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	157.8	+18.995
14	2	40	Augusto FERNANDEZ	SPA	Pons HP40	Kalex	157.7	+20.241
15	1	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	157.7	+20.409
16		57	Edgar PONS	SPA	AGR Team	Kalex	157.5	+24.538
17		10	Luca MARINI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	157.3	+27.609
18		4	Steven ODENDAAL	RSA	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	157.2	+28.226
19		89	Khairul Idham PAWI	MAL	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	157.2	+28.640
20		77	Dominique AEGERTER	SWI	Kiefer Racing	KTM	157.1	+29.217
21		52	Danny KENT	GBR	HDR – Speed Up Racing	Speed Up	157.1	+30.295
22		16	Joe ROBERTS	USA	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	156.6	+37.600
23		95	Jules DANILO	FRA	Nashi Argan SAG Team	Kalex	156.5	+38.649
24		30	Dimas EKKY PRATAMA	INA	Astra Honda Racing Team	Honda	156.1	+44.604
25		51	Eric GRANADO	BRA	Forward Racing Team	Suter	155.8	+49.491
Not Classified
		32	Isaac VIÑALES	SPA	SAG Team	Kalex	151.4	4 Laps
		13	Romano FENATI	ITA	Marinelli Snipers Team	Kalex	154.5	6 Laps
		54	Mattia PASINI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	158.5	8 Laps
		36	Joan MIR	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	158.1	10 Laps
		21	Federico FULIGNI	ITA	Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2	Kalex	153.6	10 Laps
		9	Jorge NAVARRO	SPA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	138.5	15 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
		64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3		0 Lap
		66	Niki TUULI	FIN	SIC Racing Team	Kalex		0 Lap
		62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	Forward Racing Team	Suter		0 Lap

Moto2 World Standing 2018.

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Francesco BAGNAIA	Kalex	ITA	119
2	Miguel OLIVEIRA	KTM	POR	118
3	Alex MARQUEZ	Kalex	SPA	94
4	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	Kalex	ITA	93
5	Xavi VIERGE	Kalex	SPA	70
6	Joan MIR	Kalex	SPA	64
7	Mattia PASINI	Kalex	ITA	58
8	Brad BINDER	KTM	RSA	57
9	Marcel SCHROTTER	Kalex	GER	50
10	Fabio QUARTARARO	Speed Up	FRA	45
11	Iker LECUONA	KTM	SPA	32
12	Simone CORSI	Kalex	ITA	22
13	Sam LOWES	KTM	GBR	21
14	Andrea LOCATELLI	Kalex	ITA	21
15	Dominique AEGERTER	KTM	SWI	20
16	Luca MARINI	Kalex	ITA	19
17	Remy GARDNER	Tech 3	AUS	15
18	Jorge NAVARRO	Kalex	SPA	14
19	Hector BARBERA	Kalex	SPA	10
20	Romano FENATI	Kalex	ITA	9
21	Isaac VIÑALES	Kalex	SPA	7
22	Stefano MANZI	Suter	ITA	6
23	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	Kalex	JPN	6
24	Danny KENT	Speed Up	GBR	4
25	Joe ROBERTS	NTS	USA	2
26	Augusto FERNANDEZ	Kalex	SPA	2
27	Steven ODENDAAL	NTS	RSA	1
28	Khairul Idham PAWI	Kalex	MAL	1
29	Bo BENDSNEYDER	Tech 3	NED
30	Edgar PONS	Kalex	SPA
31	Niki TUULI	Kalex	FIN
32	Eric GRANADO	Suter	BRA
33	Jules DANILO	Kalex	FRA
34	Hector GARZO	Tech 3	SPA
35	Lukas TULOVIC	KTM	GER
36	Federico FULIGNI	Kalex	ITA
37	Xavi CARDELUS	Kalex	AND
38	Dimas EKKY PRATAMA	Honda	INA
39	Corentin PEROLARI	Transformiers	FRA
40	Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN	Kalex	MAL
41	Cedric TANGRE	Tech 3	FRA

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motoGP.com

Moto2™: Fabio Quartararo (HDR – Speed Up Racing) takes flawless first Grand Prix win.

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GRAN PREMI MONSTER ENERGY DE CATALUNYA

Moto2 World Standing 2018.

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