Moto2™: Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) fantastic photo-finish win in Michelin® Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

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Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) has taken his first ever back-to-back victories in the world championship, as he slipstreamed Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Franco Morbidelli to the line in Australia – taking the Italian in a stunning photo finish only a week after his victory at the Twin Ring Motegi. Dynavolt Intact GP’s Sandro Cortese completed the podium for his first rostrum in over a year, bouncing back from a tough season marred by injury.

Blue skies, good weather and finally a completely dry track at Phillip Island saw Moto2™ line up a little late after a dramatic Moto3™ race, with Luthi getting the holeshot from pole and as you were at the front – with a key loser off the line proving Championship leader and reigning Champion Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport). As Luthi then had a big moment, Morbidelli then struck for the lead – but the Swiss rider hit back as the front row set off at the head of the race.

From a tough starting position of P15 for Championship contender Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP40), the Spaniard was up into P6 with 20 laps to go – with Zarco back in P13 – as he attempted to cut the Frenchman’s 21 point lead ahead of the Australian GP. Then Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2) was the first big name to crash out – rider ok – as the Brit suffered his fifth fall of the weekend early on, before Rins saw his title chances take another big hit as he ended up in the gravel soon after, and Zarco began his fight back and got up into the top ten.

The front group of Luthi, Morbidelli and Pasini remained clear in the lead, with the three keeping pace with each other – and Luthi, P3 in the Championship, seeing his “Rins – out” pit board. As the three remained in the 1:34 laptimes, Zarco began to drop back through the field – in P14 by 11 laps to go.

After a strong turn of pace at the start, Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) fell back into the clutches of Misano winner Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward Racing), with the Italian taking over in P4 and Folger holding on in the top five – until Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Folger’s teammate Sandro Cortese overhauled the Brno winner. Cortese continued his stunning pace and ride through the field to take the podium, with Nakagami fading slightly as he felt the effects of his highside crash in Qualifying – and Pasini falling out of contention at Turn 4.

Baldassarri finished the race in P4, ahead of Nakagami by the flag, with Folger hanging on to P6. Simone Corsi (Speed Up Racing) had a solid ride to P7, with Axel Pons (AGR Team) taking eighth ahead of an impressive performance from Xavi Vierge (Tech 3 Racing), who came home in ninth. Marcel Schrotter (AGR Team) completed the top ten.

Xavier Simeon (QMMF Racing Team) headed reigning Champion Zarco, as the Frenchman finished the race in P12 – with Jesko Raffin (Sports-Millions-EMWE-SAG), Edgar Pons (Paginas Amalrillas HP40) and Ratthapark Wilairot (Idemitsi Honda Team Asia) completing the points positions.

With Lowes and Rins both crashing out, and Zarco down in P12, Luthi was the big winner in Phillip Island – cutting his deficit in the title fight significantly as the penultimate round of the year at Sepang International Circuit approaches. He took over in P2 in the title, now only 22 points down, and showed the adage can be true – he who dares, can sometimes win.

MICHELIN® AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

Moto2 Race Classification 2016.

Pos.	Points	Num.	Rider	Nation	Team	Bike	Km/h	Time/Gap
1	25	12	Thomas LUTHI	SWI	Garage Plus Interwetten	Kalex	169.9	39’15.891
2	20	21	Franco MORBIDELLI	ITA	Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS	Kalex	169.9	+0.010
3	16	11	Sandro CORTESE	GER	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	169.8	+0.530
4	13	7	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	ITA	Forward Team	Kalex	169.7	+3.081
5	11	30	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	JPN	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	169.6	+3.815
6	10	94	Jonas FOLGER	GER	Dynavolt Intact GP	Kalex	169.1	+11.087
7	9	24	Simone CORSI	ITA	Speed Up Racing	Speed Up	168.9	+13.291
8	8	49	Axel PONS	SPA	AGR Team	Kalex	168.7	+16.411
9	7	23	Marcel SCHROTTER	GER	AGR Team	Kalex	168.6	+17.650
10	6	97	Xavi VIERGE	SPA	Tech 3 Racing	Tech 3	168.6	+17.665
11	5	19	Xavier SIMEON	BEL	QMMF Racing Team	Speed Up	168.6	+17.762
12	4	5	Johann ZARCO	FRA	Ajo Motorsport	Kalex	168.6	+17.796
13	3	2	Jesko RAFFIN	SWI	Sports-Millions-EMWE-SAG	Kalex	167.6	+31.575
14	2	57	Edgar PONS	SPA	Paginas Amarillas HP 40	Kalex	167.4	+34.670
15	1	14	Ratthapark WILAIROT	THA	IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia	Kalex	167.0	+40.454
16		10	Luca MARINI	ITA	Forward Team	Kalex	166.5	+47.707
17		70	Robin MULHAUSER	SWI	CarXpert Interwetten	Kalex	163.3	+1’34.470
18		93	Ramdan ROSLI	MAL	Petronas AHM Malaysia	Kalex	162.4	1 Lap
Not Classified
		20	Alessandro NOCCO	ITA	Leopard Racing	Kalex	160.7	2 Laps
		54	Mattia PASINI	ITA	Italtrans Racing Team	Kalex	169.8	3 Laps
		52	Danny KENT	GBR	Leopard Racing	Kalex	167.3	3 Laps
		87	Remy GARDNER	AUS	Tasca Racing Scuderia Moto2	Kalex	158.8	12 Laps
		60	Julian SIMON	SPA	QMMF Racing Team	Speed Up	167.3	16 Laps
		27	Iker LECUONA	SPA	CarXpert Interwetten	Kalex	164.4	16 Laps
		40	Alex RINS	SPA	Paginas Amarillas HP 40	Kalex	167.4	19 Laps
		22	Sam LOWES	GBR	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	Kalex	163.1	23 Laps
Not Finished 1st Lap
		55	Hafizh SYAHRIN	MAL	Petronas Raceline Malaysia	Kalex		0 Lap

Moto2 World Standing 2016

Pos.	Rider	Bike	Nation	Points
1	Johann ZARCO	Kalex	FRA	226
2	Thomas LUTHI	Kalex	SWI	204
3	Alex RINS	Kalex	SPA	201
4	Franco MORBIDELLI	Kalex	ITA	177
5	Sam LOWES	Kalex	GBR	162
6	Takaaki NAKAGAMI	Kalex	JPN	159
7	Jonas FOLGER	Kalex	GER	143
8	Lorenzo BALDASSARRI	Kalex	ITA	112
9	Hafizh SYAHRIN	Kalex	MAL	106
10	Simone CORSI	Speed Up	ITA	93
11	Dominique AEGERTER	Kalex	SWI	71
12	Mattia PASINI	Kalex	ITA	63
13	Sandro CORTESE	Kalex	GER	61
14	Alex MARQUEZ	Kalex	SPA	60
15	Marcel SCHROTTER	Kalex	GER	58
16	Axel PONS	Kalex	SPA	55
17	Xavier SIMEON	Speed Up	BEL	45
18	Julian SIMON	Speed Up	SPA	40
19	Luis SALOM	Kalex	SPA	37
20	Miguel OLIVEIRA	Kalex	POR	33
21	Danny KENT	Kalex	GBR	28
22	Luca MARINI	Kalex	ITA	27
23	Xavi VIERGE	Tech 3	SPA	25
24	Jesko RAFFIN	Kalex	SWI	14
25	Isaac VIÑALES	Tech 3	SPA	13
26	Anthony WEST	Suter	AUS	6
27	Ratthapark WILAIROT	Kalex	THA	6
28	Remy GARDNER	Kalex	AUS	5
29	Robin MULHAUSER	Kalex	SWI	4
30	Edgar PONS	Kalex	SPA	4
31	Tetsuta NAGASHIMA	Kalex	JPN	2
32	Federico FULIGNI	Kalex	ITA
33	Ramdan ROSLI	Kalex	MAL
34	Steven ODENDAAL	Kalex	RSA
35	Alessandro TONUCCI	Kalex	ITA
36	Iker LECUONA	Kalex	SPA
37	Alessandro NOCCO		ITA
38	Ricard CARDUS	Suter	SPA
39	Naomichi URAMOTO	Kalex	JPN
40	Efren VAZQUEZ	Suter	SPA
41	Taro SEKIGUCHI	TSR	JPN
42	Danny ESLICK	Suter	USA

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of MotoGP.com

Moto2™: Tom Luthi (Garage Plus Interwetten) fantastic photo-finish win in Michelin® Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.

3001_16_2016_aus_mo2_race_liveintw_luthi_en-video_list_3x

MICHELIN® AUSTRALIAN MOTORCYCLE GRAND PRIX

Moto2 World Standing 2016

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