Submitted by David Emmett on
Results and summary of the Moto2 race at Sepang:
Thomas Luthi has taken his first victory since leaving the 125cc class in a close duel with Stefan Bradl which ended when the race was red-flagged. With Marquez ruled out of the race by the doctors, Bradl has taken a lead of 23 points in the championship, and goes into Valencia needing just 3 points to become champion.
Bradl looked like winning the race for much of it. The Viessmann Kiefer rider led into the first corner and immediately pulled a gap. Behind him, Luthi led the chase with the brothers Espargaro, Mika Kallio and Michele Pirro, and after being briefly led by Pol Espargaro, Luthi retook 2nd and started to chase down Bradl. It was a long and slow process, but by lap 10, Luthi was on Bradl's tail.
Sitting behind Bradl, Luthi seemed happy to let the German lead, sizing him up for a pass on every lap into the final corner. His patience held until lap 17, when Luthi decided it was time to make a break. He pulled out of Bradl's draft down the back straight, and slid past into the lead into the final corner, holding his line to lead as they started lap 18. His pass would prove to be prescient: that lap, Axel Pons, battling with Kenny Noyes for 16th, crashed heavily, causing the race to be red flagged. The result went back to the last full lap that had been completed by all riders on the same lap, which turned out to be the lap that Luthi edged in front of Bradl. Luthi took the win, demoting Bradl into 2nd, and delaying the championship for at least another race.
Bradl now goes into Valencia with a lead of 23 points, and needing just 3 more to wrap up the title. Marquez should be fully fit by then, and will need to win the race to take the championship from Bradl. Given Marquez' form, a win is a real possibility, but Bradl should be able to finish inside the top 13.
Results
Pos. | No. | Rider | Manufacturer | Time | Diff |
1 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SUTER | 36'35.114 | |
2 | 65 | Stefan BRADL | KALEX | 36'35.301 | 0.187 |
3 | 44 | Pol ESPARGARO | FTR | 36'42.579 | 7.465 |
4 | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | MOTOBI | 36'44.241 | 9.127 |
5 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SUTER | 36'46.608 | 11.494 |
6 | 36 | Mika KALLIO | SUTER | 36'47.017 | 11.903 |
7 | 51 | Michele PIRRO | MORIWAKI | 36'47.682 | 12.568 |
8 | 40 | Aleix ESPARGARO | PONS KALEX | 36'48.077 | 12.963 |
9 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | SUTER | 36'49.212 | 14.098 |
10 | 45 | Scott REDDING | SUTER | 36'51.811 | 16.697 |
11 | 34 | Esteve RABAT | FTR | 36'54.682 | 19.568 |
12 | 54 | Kenan SOFUOGLU | SUTER | 36'59.999 | 24.885 |
13 | 16 | Jules CLUZEL | SUTER | 37'00.459 | 25.345 |
14 | 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | TECH 3 | 37'01.810 | 26.696 |
15 | 19 | Xavier SIMEON | TECH 3 | 37'07.920 | 32.806 |
16 | 80 | Axel PONS | PONS KALEX | 37'08.093 | 32.979 |
17 | 9 | Kenny NOYES | FTR | 37'08.293 | 33.179 |
18 | 6 | Joan OLIVE | FTR | 37'11.611 | 36.497 |
19 | 18 | Jordi TORRES | SUTER | 37'15.683 | 40.569 |
20 | 87 | Mohamad ZAMRI BABA | MORIWAKI | 37'31.870 | 56.756 |
21 | 20 | Ivan MORENO | SUTER | 37'41.080 | 1'05.966 |
22 | 86 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | MORIWAKI | 37'41.224 | 1'06.110 |
23 | 4 | Randy KRUMMENACHE | KALEX | 37'52.197 | 1'17.083 |
24 | 39 | Robertino PIETRI | SUTER | 37'54.529 | 1'19.415 |
25 | 95 | Mashel AL NAIMI | MORIWAKI | 37'29.730 | 1 lap |
Not Classified | |||||
35 | Raffaele DE ROSA | SUTER | 27'25.350 | 5 laps | |
75 | Mattia PASINI | FTR | 17'32.045 | 9 laps | |
64 | Santiago HERNANDEZ | FTR | 15'24.576 | 10 laps | |
23 | Apiwat WONGTHANANO | FTR | 16'27.029 | 10 laps | |
53 | Valentin DEBISE | FTR | 14'37.965 | 11 laps | |
72 | Yuki TAKAHASHI | MORIWAKI | 12'45.706 | 12 laps | |
71 | Claudio CORTI | SUTER | 6'33.691 | 14 laps | |
3 | Simone CORSI | FTR | 6'34.028 | 14 laps | |
13 | Anthony WEST | MZ-RE HONDA | 2'18.373 | 16 laps | |
76 | Max NEUKIRCHNER | MZ-RE HONDA | 2'18.435 | 16 laps | |
Excluded | |||||
68 | Yonny HERNANDEZ | FTR |
Comments
How is Pons?
His high side was a little forgotten given later events, is he ok?
Pons
Pons is OK. He was taken to hospital with a concussion, had a CAT scan and they found minor cerebral bleeding. He will be in the hospital for a couple of days for observation, but he should be fine.
Light and Dark Sepang
I'm absolutely delighted for Tom getting his first intermediate class win. As expected, a mechanical focused performance by Stefan. He may have felt a little 'robbed', but he won't begrudge Tom the win. A fascinating high speed game of chess it was. As was 125.
125 and Moto 2 were the Light side of what turned into a very Dark Sepang 2011 overall.
Mechanical performance?!
I'm sorry Pitbull and no offence meant but I really dislike that cliched term which often gets trolled out to describe any German sporting performance. Bradl has been quite brilliant this year and will thoroughly deserve a world title in Valencia. He's mixed wins with podiums and consistency under immense pressure.
That aside, well done and well overdue from Mr Luthi.
Bradl
I couldn't agree more, and will add that Bradl was wonderfully gracious in the post race interview, and congratulated Luthi on his win despite the impact it had on his title chase. He has been a brilliant champion-elect this year and I hope he takes the title at Valencia, it is already well earned.