2010 Motegi Moto2 Race Result - Two Men Fight Tight Battle To Line

Summary and result of the Moto2 race at Motegi:

Toni Elias took a very big step towards securing the very first Moto2 world title, by taking a considered and masterful victory in the Moto2 race at Motegi, holding off a hard-charging Julian Simon with relative ease. Elias and Simon got away almost from the very start, conceding the holeshot to Tech 3's Yuki Takahashi, but both Spaniards passing the Japanese rider before the lap was halfway done. Takahashi tagged along with the Spaniards, with Marc VDS Racing's Scott Redding making it four at the front. Further back, a big group including Jules Cluzel,  Alex de Angelis, Stefan Bradl, Claudio Corti and Karel Abraham gave chase, but a gap soon opened up between them and the leaders.

Though four men led, it was clear that the race would come down to one of the two Spaniards. Elias and Simon started gradually to ease away from Takahashi and Redding, their pace too hot for anyone to follow. Simon attacked Elias on lap 3, but his lead would last only for a single corner, Elias back past the Mapfre Aspar man at Turn 9. From then on, the race turned into a game of cat and mouse, with Simon stalking Elias everywhere, but never able to get close enough to launch an attack. Likewise, as hard as Elias pushed to break Simon, the Gresini Moriwaki rider simply couldn't get a gap over Simon, and had to keep a watchful eye on his rival for the entire race.

A push in the final laps of the race saw Elias get enough of a gap to secure victory, putting himself beyond the reach of his compatriot. Simon was forced to settle for his fourth 2nd place finish in a row, leaving the Mapfre Aspar man frustrated, but still with an outside chance of the title. Elias leads Simon by 81 points, and the Gresini rider can afford to give away 6 more points to Simon at Sepang and still be sure of the title.

If the top two steps on the podium were filled quickly, the bottom one took a lot longer to decide. Yuki Takahashi seemed to have a firm grip on 3rd for most of the race, with Scott Redding dropping off the back of the Tech 3 man in the early stages of the race, but the tides started to turn in the second half. Redding started closing back up on Takahashi, but behind the young Englishman, Alex de Angelis and Karel Abraham were closing in. Redding was the first to surrender, De Angelis getting past on lap 11, Abraham following a lap later. Lap 15 saw De Angelis take over 3rd from Takahashi, and two laps later Abraham was past the Tech 3 rider as well. 3rd spot would be decided between the JIR Motobi and the Cardion FTR, and it would come down to the very last lap.

Abraham dived past De Angelis at the end of the back straight, but De Angelis would not surrender without a fight. The pair went under the tunnel and through the final section banging bars, but it was Abraham who came out ahead, crossing the line to take his first ever podium, and a much-needed boost after some bad luck and bad results. De Angelis was forced to settle for 4th, while Redding crossed the line in 5th.

Results: