Submitted by David Emmett on
Results and summary of the Moto2 race at Assen:
Marc Marquez has taken his second victory of the season, taking charge of the race in the final laps after a race-long scrap with Kenan Sofuoglu, Bradley Smith and Yuki Takahashi.
It was Stefan Bradl who got off the line first, holding off a charging Marquez into turn 1, but that would be the last of the German's resistance. As the pack made their way through the tight northern loop, Bradl got shuffled back through the pack, quickly losing touch with the leaders.
A group quickly formed, consisting of Simone Corsi, Marc Marquez, Kenan Sofuoglu, Bradley Smith, Yuki Takahashi and Mike Di Meglio, Di Meglio the first to leave the group by crashing out. Corsi was the next to go, suddenly going backwards and losing touch, leaving Marquez, Sofuoglu, Smith and Takahashi to fight for the lead. Takahashi followed Corsi's example at first, but though he dropped off the back of the group, he always had them in sight.
Marquez, Sofuoglu and Smith all took turns at the lead, passing each other through De Bult, the Ramshoek, the GT chicane. But on lap 18, Marquez finally took control of the race, putting a brilliant pass on Smith through Hoge Heide, the fastest corner on the track, and a terrifying right-left flick. Takahashi - who had now recaught the group again - followed Marquez through, only to crash out two laps later. Sofuoglu got past Smith with a tough pass round the outside at the GT, but by then, Marquez' lead was too great. The Catalunya Caixa rider took victory by a comfortable margin, while Technomag CIP rider Sofuoglu ended well ahead of Tech 3's Bradley Smith. MZ's Ant West, riding the 2010 FTR, came home to take 4th, a very respectable result for the Australian.
Stefan Bradl ended up crashing out, with a little help from a tough pass by Blusens STX rider Tito Rabat, but as Marquez has only scored points three times, the German continues to lead the championship by 57 points.
Results:
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Manufacturer | Time | Diff |
| 1 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SUTER | 44'30.409 | |
| 2 | 54 | Kenan SOFUOGLU | SUTER | 44'32.806 | 2.397 |
| 3 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | TECH 3 | 44'36.827 | 6.418 |
| 4 | 13 | Anthony WEST | MZ-RE HONDA | 44'53.212 | 22.803 |
| 5 | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | MOTOBI | 44'56.291 | 25.882 |
| 6 | 75 | Mattia PASINI | FTR | 44'57.260 | 26.851 |
| 7 | 34 | Esteve RABAT | FTR | 44'58.534 | 28.125 |
| 8 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SUTER | 44'59.121 | 28.712 |
| 9 | 4 | Randy KRUMMENACHE | KALEX | 45'00.153 | 29.744 |
| 10 | 76 | Max NEUKIRCHNER | MZ-RE HONDA | 45'10.176 | 39.767 |
| 11 | 25 | Alex BALDOLINI | SUTER | 45'17.567 | 47.158 |
| 12 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | SUTER | 45'21.255 | 50.846 |
| 13 | 68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | FTR | 45'27.527 | 57.118 |
| 14 | 3 | Simone CORSI | FTR | 45'31.184 | 1'00.775 |
| 15 | 71 | Claudio CORTI | SUTER | 45'36.719 | 1'06.310 |
| 16 | 40 | Aleix ESPARGARO | PONS KALEX | 45'37.173 | 1'06.764 |
| 17 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | MORIWAKI | 45'37.232 | 1'06.823 |
| 18 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SUTER | 45'46.705 | 1'16.296 |
| 19 | 88 | Ricard CARDUS | MORIWAKI | 45'51.933 | 1'21.524 |
| 20 | 31 | Carmelo MORALES | MORIWAKI | 45'52.698 | 1'22.289 |
| 21 | 49 | Kev COGHLAN | FTR | 46'08.570 | 1'38.161 |
| 22 | 66 | Michael VAN DER MARK | TEN KATE | 46'12.297 | 1'41.888 |
| 23 | 21 | Javier FORES | SUTER | 46'12.598 | 1'42.189 |
| 24 | 45 | Scott REDDING | SUTER | 44'33.423 | 1 lap |
| 25 | 95 | Mashel AL NAIMI | MORIWAKI | 44'35.214 | 1 lap |
| 26 | 39 | Robertino PIETRI | SUTER | 44'43.949 | 1 lap |
| Not Classified | |||||
| 65 | Stefan BRADL | KALEX | 37'26.902 | 4 laps | |
| 97 | Steven ODENDAAL | SUTER | 38'36.702 | 4 laps | |
| 72 | Yuki TAKAHASHI | MORIWAKI | 35'17.549 | 5 laps | |
| 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | FTR | 35'40.497 | 5 laps | |
| 9 | Kenny NOYES | FTR | 36'36.221 | 5 laps | |
| 19 | Xavier SIMEON | TECH 3 | 33'46.670 | 6 laps | |
| 36 | Mika KALLIO | SUTER | 25'21.587 | 11 laps | |
| 80 | Axel PONS | PONS KALEX | 13'45.678 | 17 laps | |
| 14 | Ratthapark WILAIROT | FTR | 9'55.846 | 19 laps | |
| 53 | Valentin DEBISE | FTR | 10'05.005 | 19 laps | |
| 64 | Santiago HERNANDEZ | FTR | 6'04.528 | 21 laps | |
| 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | TECH 3 | 3'56.902 | 22 laps | |
| 16 | Jules CLUZEL | SUTER | 4'04.865 | 22 laps | |
Comments
Kenan Sofuoğlu 2nd!!
Finally a good race and the first podium of the season from Kenan; he made us proud in Turkey, I'm very happy for him :)
The lead battle was very exciting till the end, great win by Marc Marquez, also up to 2nd in the Championship now.
Congratulations also to Bradley Smith, Anthony West and Alex de Angelis, poor Yuki Takahashi.
What happened to Stefan Bradl, far from the front before he fell, did he make a wrong tire choice?
Awesome race in the top4
Sofuoglu got his qualifying of the season in 7th.
The 3 Tech3 got their best qualifying with Smith, Di Meglio and Simeon in the top15!
West got by far his best qualifying of the season with the 20th spot on the grid.
These facts made me happy but the race was even better!
Sofuoglu had an aggressive race, countless overtakings and very good 2nd place, sticking with the 2010 chassis does him good!
Di Meglio had his best start of the season, riding with the front runners but was probably a bit too hot...but it's never too late to start getting some good results, it will come soon.
Smith had a solid race, 2 podiums in a row is a difficult feature in Moto2.
And then Westie...that feels so good, he deserves it so much.
Stuck with one of the poorer teams, first they bought a FTR for Neukirchner but made him stick with the MZ chassis, then had him to race with 3 different bikes since the season started...good on you Westie, show them that you're way better than you can show with this bike!!!
No luck for Bradl, with Marquez now 2nd and Smith 4th in the championship it's gonna get interesting. Especially if Sofuoglu sticks around them during the races from now on.
Top6 for Pasini equaling his best result in the category.
Ten Kate wildcard
rider Michael Van Der Mark ended the race in 22nd position, 3 seconds away from Kev Coghlan and 20 seconds from Morales.
Considering he never rode a full season in GP and his best result is a 18th place in 125, I guess that it's a decent result.
It's very significant that Ten Kate has a wild card in Moto2, it could fuel the war between Infront and the Dorna, are they considering an entry for 2013 besides an involvement in Moto3?