Submitted by Mike Lewis on
Updated Results Below:
Tito Rabat held off a slipstreaming Takaaka Nakagami to win the first Moto2 race of the 2014 season at the Losail Circuit in Qatar. Pole-sitter Rabat won by only four-hundredths of a second, roughly a bike length at the Sunday evening event. Nakagami (2nd) led much of the race but was passed by Rabat with seven laps to go. Mike Kallio rode home in a steady third while nursing severe back bruising from a serious crash during Saturday's qualifying.
Rabat's win and teammate Kallio's third gave the Marc VDS Racing Team a strong start to the new season.
Thomas Luthi took fourth over last year's Moto3 champion and fifth-place finisher, Maverick Vinales.
Initially, Nakagami raced out front and began opening a slight gap as the rest of the field fought for position in the first handful of laps. But with nine laps remaining, Rabat began closing in. Two laps later, Rabat drafted past Nakagami on the circuit's long front straight and held on through the first corner and beyond. However, Nakagami stayed close with Kallio right on his heels.
On the final lap, Nakagami put considerable pressure on the race leader and the pair opened a slight gap on Kallio. After the final corner, the Japanese rider attempted to make the same slipstream passing move while racing to the finish line. But Rabat managed to hold on to win by a bike-length. Kallio, who didn't keep pace on the hectic final lap, finished third.
~~~ UPDATE ~~~
After the race was over, Nakagami's Kalex Honda was found to have been fitted with an illegal air filter. Nakagami was disqualified, and everybody moved up one position. This means Mika Kallio is awarded 2nd position, and Tom Luthi awarded 3rd.
Results:
Pos. | No. | Rider | Bike | Time / Diff. |
1 | 53 | Esteve RABAT | Kalex | 40'20.963 |
2 | 36 | Mika KALLIO | Kalex | 1.059 |
3 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | Suter | 3.741 |
4 | 40 | Maverick VIÑALES | Kalex | 4.043 |
5 | 3 | Simone CORSI | Forward KLX | 5.830 |
6 | 22 | Sam LOWES | Speed Up | 14.170 |
7 | 11 | Sandro CORTESE | Kalex | 24.943 |
8 | 81 | Jordi TORRES | Suter | 25.196 |
9 | 95 | Anthony WEST | Speed Up | 25.322 |
10 | 96 | Louis ROSSI | Kalex | 26.687 |
11 | 94 | Jonas FOLGER | Kalex | 26.873 |
12 | 88 | Ricard CARDUS | Tech 3 | 26.914 |
13 | 4 | Randy KRUMMENACHER | Suter | 31.671 |
14 | 39 | Luis SALOM | Kalex | 40.588 |
15 | 55 | Hafizh SYAHRIN | Kalex | 40.695 |
16 | 60 | Julian SIMON | Kalex | 41.810 |
17 | 54 | Mattia PASINI | Forward KLX | 44.030 |
18 | 25 | Azlan SHAH | Kalex | 52.813 |
19 | 97 | Roman RAMOS | Speed Up | 53.563 |
20 | 10 | Thitipong WAROKORN | Kalex | +1'10.995 |
21 | 45 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | TSR | +1'11.391 |
22 | 70 | Robin MULHAUSER | Suter | +1'11.811 |
23 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | Caterham Suter | +1'52.348 |
24 | 19 | Xavier SIMEON | Suter | +1'52.446 |
25 | 21 | Franco MORBIDELLI | Kalex | 1 Lap |
30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | Kalex | 0 Lap | |
Not Classified | ||||
7 | Lorenzo BALDASSARRI | Suter | 1 Lap | |
77 | Dominique AEGERTER | Suter | 5 Laps | |
18 | Nicolas TEROL | Suter | 5 Laps | |
23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | Tech 3 | 9 Laps | |
49 | Axel PONS | Kalex | 9 Laps | |
98 | Mashel AL NAIMI | Speed Up | 16 Laps | |
8 | Gino REA | Suter | 18 Laps | |
15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | Suter | 0 Lap | |
2 | Josh HERRIN | Caterham Suter | 0 Lap |
Comments
Man I was cheering for
Man I was cheering for Nakagami at the end, he almost got it.
Quality by Rabat though, hanging back at the start and then slicing back to the front.
Simeon
What a damned shame for Xavier Simeon. another come togehter with De Angelis (their 5th ?) but was Herin's fault ? anyway, his racepace on a bike that had crashed was at least better than 8th finisher Cortese. I strongly believed he could have been on the podium.