Moto2™. Sky Racing Team VR46 rider Franceso Bagnaia reigns supreme in France.

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Sky Racing Team VR46 rider Franceso Bagnaia was simply unstoppable in the Moto2™ race at the HJC Helmets Grand Prix de France, converting pole position into a commanding victory to take his third win of 2018 – the first winner from pole in Moto2™ at the venue. Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) was the Italian’s closest challenger in second, with teammate 2017 Moto3™ World Champion Joan Mir securing his maiden intermediate class podium, crossing the line third.

There was drama before the race began for the man who qualified second, with Xavi Vierge (Dynavolt Intact GP) having to start from the back of the grid a mechanical problem before the Spaniard went out.

As the lights went out, Bagnaia made the perfect launch from pole and took the holeshot, with Marquez moving straight into P2. Third on the grid and World Championship contender Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons HP40) didn’t get the start he would have wanted, and when pushing to make up positions on lap seven, the Italian crashed at Turn 2 – rider ok.

Back at the front, Bagnaia and Marquez pushed to create a gap back to Marcel Schroetter (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Mir, with Bagnaia then able to pull away for a comfortable win. Marquez kept it calm to take second and twenty points towards the Championship, with Mir able to turn his incredible pace this weekend into his first ever podium in the class – in only his fifth race.

Schroetter would finish the race fourth, his best ever Moto2™ result after a weekend of top pace and despite still recovering from injury. Meanwhile, teammate Vierge was a man on a charge, he caught and passed Miguel Oliveira (Red Bull KTM Ajo) by lap 14, and then reeled in rookie Romano Fenati (Marinelli Snipers Team) to get up into fifth. The Spaniard held off a late charge from Oliveira to finish a phenomenal P5.

Rookie Fenati was a season best seventh as his adaptation to the class continued, with Fabio Quartararo (MB Conveyors – Speed Up Racing) giving the French fans something to cheer about in P8 – his best result of the year so far. The Frenchman was locked in a battle with Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) in the latter stages of the race, and the South African took P9.

Stefano Manzi (Forward Racing Team) produced a stunning ride to round out the top ten, coming from 23rd on the grid, with the key name missing from that fight at the front proving to be Championship protagonist Mattia Pasini (Italtrans Racing Team), who crashed and leaves a GP with no points for the first time this year.

Joe Roberts (NTS RW Racing GP), after passing Sam Lowes (Swiss Innovative Investors) for P14, crashed from a first point scoring finish, with Isaac Viñales (SAG Team), Iker Lecuona (Swiss Innovative Investors), Eric Granado (Forward Racing Team) and Jorge Navarro (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) some of the other crashers, riders ok.

Despite Marquez’ best efforts, closing the gap to less than a second with four laps to go, there was no stopping Bagnaia. He heads to the Tuscan hills leading the World Championship by a healthy 25 points. The Italian has made a blistering start to 2018, can anyone stop him on home soil next time out?

HJC HELMETS GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE

Moto2 Race Classification 2018.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	42	Francesco BAGNAIA	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	154.3	40’40.162
2	20	73	Alex MARQUEZ	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	154.1	+2.709
3	16	36	Joan MIR	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	154.0	+4.865
4	13	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	153.9	+7.041
5	11	97	Xavi VIERGE	SPA	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	153.7	+9.811
6	10	44	Miguel OLIVEIRA	POR	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	153.7	+9.943
7	9	13	Romano FENATI	ITA	Marinelli Snipers Team	Kalex	153.5	+12.293
8	8	20	Fabio QUARTARARO	FRA	MB Conveyors – Speed Up Racing	Speed Up	153.4	+14.585
9	7	41	Brad BINDER	RSA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	153.3	+15.429
10	6	62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	Forward Racing Team	Suter	153.2	+17.228
11	5	40	Hector BARBERA	SPA	Pons HP40	Kalex	153.1	+18.809
12	4	5	Andrea LOCATELLI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	153.1	+19.541
13	3	22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Swiss Innovative Investors	KTM	153.0	+21.112
14	2	24	Simone CORSI	ITA	Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2	Kalex	152.8	+23.510
15	1	89	Khairul Idham PAWI	MAL	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	152.7	+25.996
16		64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	152.6	+29.267
17		4	Steven ODENDAAL	RSA	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	152.3	+32.493
18		54	Mattia PASINI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	151.6	+44.006
19		16	Joe ROBERTS	USA	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	151.5	+45.609
20		95	Jules DANILO	FRA	Nashi Argan SAG Team	Kalex	151.5	+45.840
21		52	Danny KENT	GBR	MB Conveyors – Speed Up Racing	Speed Up	151.4	+46.052
22		66	Niki TUULI	FIN	SIC Racing Team	Kalex	151.3	+48.371
23		3	Lukas TULOVIC	GER	Kiefer Racing	KTM	150.9	+54.304
24		19	Corentin PEROLARI	FRA	Promoto Sport	Transformiers	150.8	+57.478
25		45	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	150.1	+1’07.712
26		18	Xavi CARDELUS	AND	Team Stylobike	Kalex	149.3	+1’21.756
27		80	Cedric TANGRE	FRA	Yohan Moto Sport	Tech 3	148.4	+1’36.542
Not Classified
		21	Federico FULIGNI	ITA	Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2	Kalex	149.6	15 Laps
		14	Hector GARZO	SPA	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	144.9	15 Laps
		7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	Pons HP40	Kalex	144.1	17 Laps
		27	Iker LECUONA	SPA	Swiss Innovative Investors	KTM	136.7	19 Laps
		9	Jorge NAVARRO	SPA	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	129.5	20 Laps
		51	Eric GRANADO	BRA	Forward Racing Team	Suter	138.2	24 Laps
		10	Luca MARINI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	133.7	24 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
		32	Isaac VIÑALES	SPA	SAG Team	Kalex		0 Lap

Moto2 World Standing 2018.

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Francesco BAGNAIA	Kalex	ITA	98
2	Miguel OLIVEIRA	KTM	POR	73
3	Alex MARQUEZ	Kalex	SPA	67
4	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	Kalex	ITA	64
5	Mattia PASINI	Kalex	ITA	58
6	Xavi VIERGE	Kalex	SPA	52
7	Joan MIR	Kalex	SPA	48
8	Marcel SCHROTTER	Kalex	GER	37
9	Brad BINDER	KTM	RSA	37
10	Iker LECUONA	KTM	SPA	23
11	Dominique AEGERTER	KTM	SWI	16
12	Fabio QUARTARARO	Speed Up	FRA	15
13	Remy GARDNER	Tech 3	AUS	14
14	Jorge NAVARRO	Kalex	SPA	14
15	Sam LOWES	KTM	GBR	14
16	Simone CORSI	Kalex	ITA	12
17	Luca MARINI	Kalex	ITA	10
18	Hector BARBERA	Kalex	SPA	10
19	Romano FENATI	Kalex	ITA	9
20	Andrea LOCATELLI	Kalex	ITA	8
21	Isaac VIÑALES	Kalex	SPA	7
22	Stefano MANZI	Suter	ITA	6
23	Danny KENT	Speed Up	GBR	4
24	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	Kalex	JPN	3
25	Khairul Idham PAWI	Kalex	MAL	1
26	Bo BENDSNEYDER	Tech 3	NED
27	Steven ODENDAAL	NTS	RSA
28	Joe ROBERTS	NTS	USA
29	Lukas TULOVIC	KTM	GER
30	Jules DANILO	Kalex	FRA
31	Federico FULIGNI	Kalex	ITA
32	Xavi CARDELUS	Kalex	AND
33	Eric GRANADO	Suter	BRA
34	Niki TUULI	Kalex	FIN
35	Hector GARZO	Tech 3	SPA
36	Corentin PEROLARI	Transformiers	FRA
37	Zulfahmi KHAIRUDDIN	Kalex	MAL
38	Cedric TANGRE	Tech 3	FRA

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motoGP.com

Moto2™. Sky Racing Team VR46 rider Franceso Bagnaia reigns supreme in France.

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HJC HELMETS GRAND PRIX DE FRANCE

Moto2 World Standing 2018.

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