Moto2: Abraham wins amid last-lap mayhem
Karel Abraham claimed a shock maiden Moto2 victory in the season finale at Valencia after champion Toni Elias collided with Andrea Iannone on the last lap
Iannone had been battling for the lead with Julian Simon - his rival for the runner-up spot in the championship - for most of the race, with Abraham and Elias right on their tails. But when Elias' aggressive move on Iannone on the final lap scattered the pack, it was Abraham who came through to take his first win at world championship level.
Polesitter Elias had earlier fallen to fifth at the first corner of the race while trying to fend off the faster-starting Iannone.
The Italian then edged away while Kenan Sofuoglu and Stefan Bradl fought over second - a contest which came to a head after seven laps in a Turn 1 incident that left an angry Sofuoglu skating through the gravel. He eventually fell, and retired soon after, while Bradl did not last much longer before crashing by himself.
Simon had fallen to 11th off the line, his qualifying having been hampered by electronic problems, but he carved through the field and took second from Bradl just before the German crashed.
He then caught Iannone and started a battle that saw them exchange the lead eight times, while Elias and Abraham pulled off some ferocious moves on each other just behind.
On the last lap, Elias slid down the inside of Simon to take second but then speared into Iannone. As Elias crashed out, Iannone somehow kept his wobbling bike upright, but Abraham took advantage of the incident to sweep past both Simon and Iannone and claim the win.
Iannone beat Simon to second, though the Spaniard held on to second in the championship.
Tom Luthi just missed out on a podium spot as the last-lap mayhem unfolded. Scott Redding drifted away from the lead battle but resisted Alex de Angelis for fifth.
Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1. Karel Abraham FTR 43m49.499s
2. Andrea Iannone Speed Up + 0.522s
3. Julian Simon Suter + 0.583s
4. Thomas Luthi Moriwaki + 0.760s
5. Scott Redding Suter + 4.205s
6. Alex de Angelis Motobi + 5.385s
7. Simone Corsi Motobi + 11.399s
8. Sergio Gadea Pons Kalex + 21.420s
9. Dominique Aegerter Suter + 22.439s
10. Gabor Talmacsi Speed Up + 22.912s
11. Jules Cluzel Suter + 23.511s
12. Kenny Noyes Promoharris + 25.169s
13. Alex Debon FTR + 30.571s
14. Yonny Hernandez BQR + 31.077s
15. Xavier Simeon Moriwaki + 31.276s
16. Javier Fores AJR + 33.381s
17. Alex Baldolini ICP + 33.548s
18. Yuki Takahashi Tech 3 + 37.556s
19. Claudio Corti Suter + 38.602s
20. Michael Ranseder Suter + 38.763s
21. Hector Faubel Suter + 39.540s
22. Ratthapark Wilairot Bimota + 39.835s
23. Roman Ramos Mir + 39.849s
24. Raffaele de Rosa Tech 3 + 40.519s
25. Roberto Rolfo Suter + 42.803s
26. Mike di Meglio Suter + 44.234s
27. Anthony West MZ + 1m01.722s
28. Joan Olive Promoharris + 1m02.031s
29. Vladimir Ivanov Moriwaki + 1m09.526s
30. Toni Elias Moriwaki + 1m25.529s
31. Yannick Guerra Moriwaki + 1 lap
32. Mashel Al Naimi BQR + 1 lap
33. Hiromichi Kunikawa Bimota + 1 lap
Retirements:
Axel Pons Pons Kalex 26 laps
Robertino Pietri Suter 22 laps
Fonsi Nieto Moriwaki 18 laps
Ferruccio Lamborghini Moriwaki 17 laps
Stefan Bradl Suter 11 laps
Kenan Sofuoglu Suter 9 laps
Carmelo Morales Suter 7 laps
Valentin Debise ADV 4 laps
Ricard Cardus Bimota 0 laps
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