Moto2™ SKY Racing Team VR46’s Luca Marini bags back-to-back Moto2™ wins after Motegi duel.

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SKY Racing Team VR46’s Luca Marini clinched back-to-back wins for the first time in his career after fighting off Dynavolt Intact GP’s Tom Lüthi in the closing stages at the Motul Grand Prix of Japan. In a fiercely competitive Moto2™ race, Marini and Lüthi were joined on the podium by 2018 Moto3™ World Champion Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo), who earned a debut top-three finish in the intermediate class after starting from 14th on the grid.

A fortnight on from taking victory in Thailand, Marini started from pole position and got the perfect start to help him take the holeshot. It was the polar opposite start for ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team’s Tetsuta Nagashima, however. The home hero crashed on the sighting lap, only to make the grid before then crashing again at Turn 1. A home round to forget.

Behind Marini, FlexBox HP40 teammates Augusto Fernandez and Lorenzo Baldaasarri started to squabble over second place. Their fight allowed Idemitsu Honda Team Asia’s Somkiat Chantra to join the podium hunt and he took full advantage of a mistake from Baldassarri to settle into third place.

Championship leader Alex Marquez (Marc VDS EG 0,0), meanwhile, was having all sorts of problems, compounded by a huge moment on the exit of the final corner on lap two. Despite being nowhere near as dramatic as yesterday’s miraculous Motegi save, it was certainly a close call for the title protagonist. There was also a frightening moment for Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Brad Binder after the South African ran wide on the exit of Turn 1. The 2020 MotoGP™ rider hit the grass and was well and truly sideways, with Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) snapping his handlebar when brushing past him and consequently ending his race.

With nine laps now completed, Marquez was embroiled in a fierce fight over sixth with Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Fernandez. There were some extremely firm moves been put in by all three riders as the leaders were allowed to escape. The main threat at the front at this point looked like coming from Lüthi, who made quick work of Baldassarri moments after setting the fastest lap of the race. He then started to apply some pressure on the race leader, Marini. The Italian stood firm for a lap, but the Swiss rider hit the front with a classy move up the inside at Turn 9.

Meanwhile, Marquez began to muscle his way through by, again, showing some uncharacteristic aggression. The Championship leader squeezed past Chantra for fifth, as the Thai rider began to slip backwards. In the fight for third, Martin set the fastest lap of the race with just three laps remaining to close onto the rear wheel of Baldassarri.

Two laps were left when the podium picture took shape. Marini dived through on Lüthi and, within a few seconds, Martin had pounced on Baldassarri. Despite their best efforts, both Lüthi and Baldassarri were unable to respond, meaning Marini took the chequered flag and, as a result, a 50-point haul in the space of a fortnight. Lüthi was back on the podium for the first time since Barcelona and Martin tasted intermediate class bubbly for the very first time after a remarkable ride through from the fifth row of the grid.

Behind Baldassarri in fourth was Beta Tools Speed Up’s Jorge Navarro, who again showed incredible late race pace to take another top-five finish. Marquez came across the line in sixth place, meaning he sits 36 points clear of now Lüthi with three races remaining. Italtrans Racing Team’s Enea Bastianini ended seventh ahead of Fernandez and Schrötter, who both slipped backwards, before MV Agusta got themselves inside the top ten thanks to Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Temporary Forward).

Top 10:
1. Luca Marini (SKY Racing Team VR46)
2. Tom Lüthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) + 0.560
3. Jorge Martin (Red Bull KTM Ajo) + 3.593
4. Lorenzo Baldassarri (FlexBox HP 40) + 3.999
5. Jorge Navarro (Beta Tools Speed Up) + 5.236
6. Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) + 7.345
7. Enea Bastianini (Italtrans Racing Team) + 8.115
8. Augusto Fernandez (FlexBox HP 40) + 10.460
9. Marcel Schrötter (Dynavolt Intact GP) + 10.711
10. Stefano Manzi (MV Agusta Temporary Forward) + 12.445.

MOTUL GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN

Moto2 Race Classification 2019.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	10	Luca MARINI	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	154.7	40’57.279
2	20	12	Thomas LUTHI	SWI	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	154.7	+0.560
3	16	88	Jorge MARTIN	SPA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	154.5	+3.593
4	13	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	FLEXBOX HP 40	Kalex	154.4	+3.999
5	11	9	Jorge NAVARRO	SPA	Beta Tools Speed Up	Speed Up	154.4	+5.236
6	10	73	Alex MARQUEZ	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	154.2	+7.345
7	9	33	Enea BASTIANINI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	154.2	+8.115
8	8	40	Augusto FERNANDEZ	SPA	FLEXBOX HP 40	Kalex	154.0	+10.460
9	7	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	154.0	+10.711
10	6	62	Stefano MANZI	ITA	MV Agusta Temporary Forward	MV Agusta	153.9	+12.445
11	5	21	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	ITA	Beta Tools Speed Up	Speed Up	153.9	+12.572
12	4	41	Brad BINDER	RSA	Red Bull KTM Ajo	KTM	153.8	+14.864
13	3	35	Somkiat CHANTRA	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	153.8	+15.008
14	2	77	Dominique AEGERTER	SWI	MV Agusta Temporary Forward	MV Agusta	153.7	+15.778
15	1	5	Andrea LOCATELLI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	153.2	+23.595
16		64	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NED	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	153.0	+27.307
17		96	Jake DIXON	GBR	Gaviota Angel Nieto Team	KTM	152.8	+30.304
18		16	Joe ROBERTS	USA	monday.com American Racing	KTM	152.6	+33.806
19		2	Jesko RAFFIN	SWI	NTS RW Racing GP	NTS	152.4	+36.962
20		65	Philipp OETTL	GER	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	152.0	+43.682
21		20	Dimas EKKY PRATAMA	INA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	151.9	+45.143
22		47	Adam NORRODIN	MAL	Petronas Sprinta Racing	Kalex	151.0	+59.459
23		18	Xavi CARDELUS	AND	Gaviota Angel Nieto Team	KTM	150.1	+1’14.661
Not Classified
		54	Mattia PASINI	ITA	Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2	Kalex	152.8	5 Laps
		72	Marco BEZZECCHI	ITA	Red Bull KTM Tech 3	KTM	153.5	10 Laps
		87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team	Kalex	152.5	14 Laps
		27	Iker LECUONA	SPA	monday.com American Racing	KTM	151.7	18 Laps
		97	Xavi VIERGE	SPA	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	151.4	18 Laps
		22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	148.1	20 Laps
		11	Nicolo BULEGA	ITA	SKY Racing Team VR46	Kalex	141.0	21 Laps
		3	Lukas TULOVIC	GER	Kiefer Racing	KTM	105.4	21 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
		45	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	JPN	ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team	Kalex		0 Lap

Moto2 World Standing 2019.

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Alex MARQUEZ	Kalex	SPA	234
2	Thomas LUTHI	Kalex	SWI	198
3	Augusto FERNANDEZ	Kalex	SPA	192
4	Jorge NAVARRO	Speed Up	SPA	186
5	Brad BINDER	KTM	RSA	184
6	Luca MARINI	Kalex	ITA	176
7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	Kalex	ITA	151
8	Marcel SCHROTTER	Kalex	GER	125
9	Fabio DI GIANNANTONIO	Speed Up	ITA	99
10	Enea BASTIANINI	Kalex	ITA	95
11	Iker LECUONA	KTM	SPA	71
12	Remy GARDNER	Kalex	AUS	64
13	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	Kalex	JPN	64
14	Jorge MARTIN	KTM	SPA	63
15	Sam LOWES	Kalex	GBR	60
16	Xavi VIERGE	Kalex	SPA	59
17	Andrea LOCATELLI	Kalex	ITA	46
18	Nicolo BULEGA	Kalex	ITA	40
19	Mattia PASINI	Kalex	ITA	27
20	Somkiat CHANTRA	Kalex	THA	23
21	Stefano MANZI	MV Agusta	ITA	19
22	Marco BEZZECCHI	KTM	ITA	17
23	Dominique AEGERTER	MV Agusta	SWI	14
24	Simone CORSI	NTS	ITA	10
25	Bo BENDSNEYDER	NTS	NED	6
26	Jake DIXON	KTM	GBR	4
27	Joe ROBERTS	KTM	USA	4
28	Lukas TULOVIC	KTM	GER	3
29	Khairul Idham PAWI	Kalex	MAL	3
30	Jesko RAFFIN	NTS	SWI	3
31	Steven ODENDAAL	NTS	RSA
32	Jonas FOLGER	Kalex	GER
33	Philipp OETTL	KTM	GER
34	Xavi CARDELUS	KTM	AND
35	Dimas EKKY PRATAMA	Kalex	INA
36	Gabriele RUIU	Kalex	ITA
37	Adam NORRODIN	Kalex	MAL
38	Andi Farid IZDIHAR	Kalex	INA
39	Teppei NAGOE	Kalex	JPN
40	Gerry SALIM	Kalex	INA

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of motogp.com

Moto2™ SKY Racing Team VR46’s Luca Marini bags back-to-back Moto2™ wins after Motegi duel.

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MOTUL GRAND PRIX OF JAPAN

Moto2 World Standing 2019.

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