Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) was in a class of his own in the Australian GP, taking victory by three seconds – the gap having been as high as six – and crossing the line to take KTM’s first win in Moto2™. The history making continued in second, as teammate Brad Binder took his first ever podium in the intermediate class as his rookie year gains traction following a tough, injury-hit start to the season. Franco Morbidelli (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) took third and protected his title hopes, making good gains in the standings on key rival Tom Lüthi, who had a tough day to come home tenth.
Off the line it was Oliveira who took the holeshot, with polesitter Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team) losing out and Binder moving up into second. Morbidelli slotted into third, with Dominique Aegerter (Kiefer Racing) moving into fourth. Lüthi got a good start and shot up into sixth, moving around the outside as he attempted to get in the fight at the front.
The pack then started to shuffle, and a crash for Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) collected Pasini and sent Aegerter wide – as Oliveira started pulling away at the front. Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) suffered a big moment, and Lüthi began to struggle – as the top trio of Oliveira, Binder and Morbidelli found themselves in clear air. Oliveira had an advantage of six seconds with seven laps to go.
Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) was the rider on the charge mid-race, moving up and then into podium contention before passing both Binder and Morbidelli. The South African and the Italian exchanged some tough passes and spectacular moves, before then the rain flag came out near the end of the race and Nakagami slid out ahead of the duo. Oliveira crossed the line almost three seconds clear, with Binder setting the fastest lap on the penultimate lap to take second and Morbidelli a safe third.
Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten) put in an impressive performance for fourth, ahead of another top ride from Motegi podium finisher Xavi Vierge (Tech 3 Racing). Alex Marquez recovered from his moment early in the race to pull clear of a number of riders and take sixth, ahead of Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing), Aegerter, a solid ride from Sandro Cortese (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Lüthi.
Axel Pons (RW Racing GP), Francesco Bagnaia and teammate Stefano Manzi (Sky Racing Team VR46), Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Racing Team) – despite dislocating his shoulder on Saturday – and home hero Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing) completed the points.
The advantage is now 29 points for Morbidelli at the top, giving him his first shot at the title at Sepang International Circuit, which is up next.
MICHELIN® AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX
Moto2 Race Classification 2017.
| Pos. | Points | Num. | Rider | Nation | Team | Bike | Km/h | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 44 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | POR | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 169.2 | 39’25.920 |
| 2 | 20 | 41 | Brad BINDER | RSA | Red Bull KTM Ajo | KTM | 168.9 | +2.974 |
| 3 | 16 | 21 | Franco MORBIDELLI | ITA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 168.9 | +3.846 |
| 4 | 13 | 2 | Jesko RAFFIN | SWI | Garage Plus Interwetten | Kalex | 168.6 | +7.348 |
| 5 | 11 | 97 | Xavi VIERGE | SPA | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 168.6 | +7.403 |
| 6 | 10 | 73 | Alex MARQUEZ | SPA | EG 0,0 Marc VDS | Kalex | 168.3 | +12.125 |
| 7 | 9 | 24 | Simone CORSI | ITA | Speed Up Racing | Speed Up | 168.3 | +12.217 |
| 8 | 8 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SWI | Kiefer Racing | Suter | 168.3 | +12.244 |
| 9 | 7 | 11 | Sandro CORTESE | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Suter | 168.3 | +12.475 |
| 10 | 6 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SWI | CarXpert Interwetten | Kalex | 168.3 | +12.605 |
| 11 | 5 | 49 | Axel PONS | SPA | RW Racing GP | Kalex | 168.2 | +12.971 |
| 12 | 4 | 42 | Francesco BAGNAIA | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 167.7 | +20.887 |
| 13 | 3 | 62 | Stefano MANZI | ITA | SKY Racing Team VR46 | Kalex | 167.1 | +28.821 |
| 14 | 2 | 7 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | ITA | Forward Racing Team | Kalex | 166.9 | +31.214 |
| 15 | 1 | 87 | Remy GARDNER | AUS | Tech 3 Racing | Tech 3 | 166.7 | +34.678 |
| 16 | 55 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | MAL | Petronas Raceline Malaysia | Kalex | 166.7 | +34.911 | |
| 17 | 37 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | SPA | Speed Up Racing | Speed Up | 166.6 | +35.694 | |
| 18 | 45 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | JPN | Teluru SAG Team | Kalex | 165.2 | +56.487 | |
| 19 | 32 | Isaac VIÑALES | SPA | BE-A-VIP SAG Team | Kalex | 165.2 | +56.528 | |
| 20 | 27 | Iker LECUONA | SPA | Garage Plus Interwetten | Kalex | 165.2 | +56.550 | |
| 21 | 89 | Khairul Idham PAWI | MAL | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 165.1 | +57.548 | |
| 22 | 6 | Tarran MACKENZIE | GBR | Kiefer Racing | Suter | 164.9 | +1’01.191 | |
| 23 | 10 | Luca MARINI | ITA | Forward Racing Team | Kalex | 162.3 | +1’39.824 | |
| Not Classified | ||||||||
| 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | JPN | IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia | Kalex | 168.9 | 2 Laps | ||
| 57 | Edgar PONS | SPA | Pons HP40 | Kalex | 162.4 | 2 Laps | ||
| 40 | Fabio QUARTARARO | FRA | Pons HP40 | Kalex | 164.1 | 20 Laps | ||
| 5 | Andrea LOCATELLI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 161.2 | 23 Laps | ||
| 9 | Jorge NAVARRO | SPA | Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 | Kalex | 158.9 | 23 Laps | ||
| 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | GER | Dynavolt Intact GP | Suter | 157.5 | 24 Laps | ||
| 54 | Mattia PASINI | ITA | Italtrans Racing Team | Kalex | 157.3 | 24 Laps | ||
Moto2 World Standing 2017.
| Pos. | Rider | Bike | Nation | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Kalex | ITA | 272 |
| 2 | Thomas LUTHI | Kalex | SWI | 243 |
| 3 | Miguel OLIVEIRA | KTM | POR | 191 |
| 4 | Alex MARQUEZ | Kalex | SPA | 190 |
| 5 | Francesco BAGNAIA | Kalex | ITA | 150 |
| 6 | Mattia PASINI | Kalex | ITA | 135 |
| 7 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Kalex | JPN | 128 |
| 8 | Simone CORSI | Speed Up | ITA | 105 |
| 9 | Xavi VIERGE | Tech 3 | SPA | 90 |
| 10 | Brad BINDER | KTM | RSA | 89 |
| 11 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | Kalex | MAL | 86 |
| 12 | Dominique AEGERTER | Suter | SWI | 82 |
| 13 | Jorge NAVARRO | Kalex | SPA | 60 |
| 14 | Luca MARINI | Kalex | ITA | 59 |
| 15 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | Kalex | ITA | 50 |
| 16 | Fabio QUARTARARO | Kalex | FRA | 47 |
| 17 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Suter | GER | 47 |
| 18 | Sandro CORTESE | Suter | GER | 43 |
| 19 | Jesko RAFFIN | Kalex | SWI | 25 |
| 20 | Remy GARDNER | Tech 3 | AUS | 23 |
| 21 | Axel PONS | Kalex | SPA | 22 |
| 22 | Xavier SIMEON | Kalex | BEL | 16 |
| 23 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | Kalex | COL | 16 |
| 24 | Stefano MANZI | Kalex | ITA | 14 |
| 25 | Khairul Idham PAWI | Kalex | MAL | 10 |
| 26 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | Kalex | JPN | 8 |
| 27 | Isaac VIÑALES | Kalex | SPA | 7 |
| 28 | Ricard CARDUS | KTM | SPA | 7 |
| 29 | Joe ROBERTS | Kalex | USA | 6 |
| 30 | Alex DE ANGELIS | Suter | RSM | 5 |
| 31 | Andrea LOCATELLI | Kalex | ITA | 5 |
| 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 | Federico FULIGNI | Kalex | ITA | 1 |
| 37 | Augusto FERNANDEZ | Speed Up | SPA | |
| 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
