Moto2™. Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) takes epic Moto2™ win

dsc_5762.middle

Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) marked his 100th intermediate class start with a fantastic victory at the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina, with the Italian picking up his second Moto2™ win and taking the lead in the World Championship.

Xavi Vierge (Dynavolt Intact GP) converted pole position into his first dry race podium, bridging the gap to the front group in the middle part of the race to battle his way to second. After starting sixth, Red Bull KTM Ajo rider Miguel Oliveira fought his way through to the leading group on the opening lap, as he came home third.

Lorenzo Baldassarri couldn’t quite repeat his Qatar podium, eventually finishing 3.764 seconds back of the rostrum in fourth. EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider Alex Marquez’s chances of a podium were diminished as he ran wide at turn five on lap 20 while battling with Baldassarri – the Spaniard settling for fifth on his 100th GP start.

Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing) superbly picked up his best ever Moto2™ finish, crossing the line in a jubilant sixth to round off a very good weekend for the Australian. Reigning Moto3™ World Champion Joan Mir (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) impressed again in seventh, keeping Kiefer Racing’s Dominique Aegerter behind him by 0.081 seconds – a solid ride from the Swiss star on his second ride with the KTM.

Qatar race winner Francesco Bagnaia (SKY Racing Team VR46) recovered from 15th on the grid, however he could only manage ninth – leaving him six points adrift in the Championship. Dynavolt Intact GP’s Marcel Schrötter claimed tenth, which means the team now sit top of the Teams Championship after two rounds.

It wasn’t the day Brits Danny Kent (MB Conveyors – Speed Up Racing) and Sam Lowes (Swiss Innovative Investors) would have hoped for. Kent – after starting third – didn’t get off the line well and ended P12. Lowes – who was in touch with the leading group in the opening laps – had a tougher latter half of the race and came home 13th.

Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) suffered a scary looking crash, hitting the back of Jorge Navarro’s (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) bike on the run down to Turn 13 on lap two. Both riders were ok, with Navarro retiring on lap six with a bent exhaust.

The Moto2™ riders now head to the Circuit of The Americas, with the Championship looking like it will be a titanic battle this season.

GRAN PREMIO MOTUL DE LA REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA

Moto2 Race Classification 2018.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	54	Mattia PASINI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	163.2	40’37.538
2	20	97	Xavi VIERGE	SPA	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	163.1	+0.850
3	16	44	Miguel OLIVEIRA	POR	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	163.1	+1.414
4	13	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	Pons HP40	Kalex	162.9	+5.178
5	11	73	Alex MARQUEZ	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	162.8	+5.431
6	10	87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	162.5	+10.425
7	9	36	Joan MIR	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	162.3	+13.379
8	8	77	Dominique AEGERTER	SWI	Kiefer Racing	KTM	162.3	+13.460
9	7	42	Francesco BAGNAIA	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	161.7	+22.038
10	6	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	161.7	+22.867
11	5	27	Iker LECUONA	SPA	Swiss Innovative Investors	KTM	161.6	+24.102
12	4	52	Danny KENT	GBR	MB Conveyors – Speed Up Racing	Speed Up	161.5	+25.972
13	3	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Swiss Innovative Investors	KTM	161.5	+26.010
14	2	32	Isaac VIÑALES	SPA	SAG Team	Kalex	161.1	+31.769
15	1	5	Andrea LOCATELLI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	161.0	+33.264
16		10	Luca MARINI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	161.0	+33.828
17		45	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	160.0	+48.603
18		4	Steven ODENDAAL	RSA	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	159.9	+50.651
19		13	Romano FENATI	ITA	Marinelli Snipers Team	Kalex	159.8	+51.594
20		40	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Pons HP40	Kalex	159.7	+53.070
21		62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	Forward Racing Team	Suter	159.7	+53.260
22		20	Fabio QUARTARARO	FRA	MB Conveyors – Speed Up Racing	Speed Up	159.5	+56.979
23		24	Simone CORSI	ITA	Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2	Kalex	159.3	+59.266
24		89	Khairul Idham PAWI	MAL	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	158.6	+1’10.121
25		16	Joe ROBERTS	USA	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	158.5	+1’12.051
26		63	Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN	MAL	SIC Racing Team	Kalex	157.2	+1’32.993
27		21	Federico FULIGNI	ITA	Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2	Kalex	157.2	+1’33.218
28		64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	157.0	+1’36.078
29		51	Eric GRANADO	BRA	Forward Racing Team	Suter	156.8	+1’38.951
Not Classified
		9	Jorge NAVARRO	SPA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	139.5	20 Laps
		41	Brad BINDER	RSA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	150.7	22 Laps
		95	Jules DANILO	FRA	Nashi Argan SAG Team	Kalex	142.9	22 Laps

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of MotoGP.com

Moto2™. Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) takes epic Moto2™ win

dsc_5762.middle

GRAN PREMIO MOTUL DE LA REPÚBLICA ARGENTINA

Check Out Our Instagram Feed

motorbugs

Check Out Our Facebook Feed

MotorBugs

Recent Motorbugs News