2012 Mugello Moto2 Race Result: Tense Duel Won On Final Lap

Result and summary of the Moto2 race at Mugello:

Andrea Iannone has thrilled the - sadly rather sparse - crowd at Mugello, winning a nerve-wracking battle with Pol Espargaro with a pass on the last lap of the race. With Marc Marquez having a difficult race and finishing 5th, Espargaro pulls back important points in the championship.

Marquez got the drop when the lights went out, and looked like taking control from the start. For the first few laps, the Spaniard led from Andrea Iannone and Thomas Luthi, while Pol Espargaro struggled with Takaaki Nakagami, Bradley Smith and Dominique Aegerter. But Nakagami was on a mission, passing the three leaders in quick succession to take the lead on lap 6. Behind the leaders, Esparagaro was getting tangled up with Aegerter, taking another couple of laps to finally dispose of the Swiss rider and going on to catch the leaders.

A group of six formed, led by Luthi, containing Nakagami, Marquez, Iannone and Espargaro, with Bradley Smith catching them to complete the sextet. After a tricky start, Espargaro was on a different trajectory to Marquez and Nakagami, going forward while the Spaniard and the Japanese rider dropped back. Espargaro was quickly on Luthi, and after a hard exchange at Luco and Poggio Seco, the Spaniard was through. He pushed on hard and quickly opened a gap, dropping Luthi into the clutches of Iannone and Smith, with Marquez having lost touch after losing the front and saving it in spectacular fashion. 

Iannone launched an assault on Luthi, quickly disposing of the Interwetten rider, going on to chase down Espargaro quickly. The Italian caught Espargaro with a lap to go, and planned his attack for the last lap. Getting the better drive out of the final corner, he took over as they crossed the line for the penultimate time, holding Espargaro off into the San Donato corner. Espargaro chased Iannone hard, so hard his bike nearly flung him off through the Scarperia chicane. He closed once again before trying to get drive out of the final turn, but Iannone was just too strong. The Italian went on to take a fantastic victory, holding off Espargaro by less than a tenth of a second. Thomas Luthi won the battle with Bradley Smith for the final podium spot, while Marc Marquez held off a challenge by Scott Redding to hold on to 5th.

Espargaro's podium means he claws back 9 points from Marquez in the championship fight, while Iannone draws level with Espargaro. The gap has been closed to 34 points, leaving the championship still open with another 8 rounds to go.

Results: