Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Moto2: Bradl wins hard-fought Moto2 race

Stefan Bradl took his second Moto2 win of the season at Estoril after his title rival Andrea Iannone's gallant charge from 17th to first ended in a crash just a lap after he had finally taken the lead

Bradl controlled the majority of the race, briefly being passed for the lead by Thomas Luthi at the start of lap five, but swiftly regaining it when Luthi then crashed his Interwetten Suter at the Parabolica later on the same lap.

Having only qualified 14th, Iannone lost a further three places off the line and initially languished quietly in the midfield before repeating his Jerez performance and starting to hack his way up the order.

By lap 14, Iannone was into the top three. He then challenged Julian Simon for second, running wide at the first attempt but soon making a move stick.

With four laps to go, Iannone was right with Bradl and diving into the lead into Turn 7. Bradl retaliated at the first corner only to run wide, seemingly allowing Iannone to make a break.

But half a lap later, as the Italian pushed to escape from Bradl and Simon, Iannone lost control going into the chicane and crashed. He was able to rejoin but had to settle for 13th.

Though Simon then did his utmost to deprive Bradl of victory, the Kiefer Kalex rider had the situation under control and stayed just in front on the final drag to the line.

Yuki Takahashi took an emotional third place for Gresini, just a week after the death of his younger brother Koki in a road accident in Japan.

Technomag-CIP's Dominique Aegerter scored his best Moto2 result yet in fourth. His team-mate Kenen Sofuoglu had put in an early charge to briefly challenge Bradl for the lead, but later fell.

Simone Corsi flew through from 17th on the the grid to fifth, while a series of late moves got Pol Espargaro into sixth. Other charges came from Randy Krummenacher (25th to seventh), Mike di Meglio (26th to ninth) and Esteve Rabat (23rd to 10th). Alex Baldolini finished among them in eighth.

In other incidents, Claudio Corti and Michele Pirro both fell while holding sixth place, and 125cc champion Marc Marquez's fraught start to his Moto2 career continued. The Spaniard dropped from fourth on the grid to 11th on lap one, and later crashed into Scott Redding while trying to regain ground.

Results - 26 laps:

Pos  Rider                Team/Bike                Time/Gap
 1.  Stefan Bradl         Kiefer Kalex           44m40.765s
 2.  Julian Simon         Aspar Suter              + 0.147s
 3.  Yuki Takahashi       Gresini Moriwaki         + 6.188s
 4.  Dominique Aegerter   Technomag-CIP Suter     + 16.822s
 5.  Simone Corsi         Ioda FTR                + 17.076s
 6.  Pol Espargaro        Speed Up FTR            + 25.956s
 7.  Randy Krummenacher   Kiefer Kalex            + 26.102s
 8.  Alex Baldolini       Forward Suter           + 26.333s
 9.  Mike di Meglio       Tech 3                  + 26.636s
10.  Esteve Rabat         Blusens-STX FTR         + 29.077s
11.  Claudio Corti        Italtrans Suter         + 39.637s
12.  Alex de Angelis      JIR Motobi              + 39.913s
13.  Andrea Iannone       Speed Master Suter      + 42.466s
14.  Ricard Cardus        QMMF Moriwaki           + 47.382s
15.  Axel Pons            Pons Kalex              + 47.406s
16.  Raffaele de Rosa     G22 Moriwaki            + 48.025s
17.  Kenny Noyes          Avintia-STX FTR         + 52.538s
18.  Yonny Hernandez      Blusens-STX FTR         + 53.478s
19.  Javier Fores         Aspar Suter             + 53.938s
20.  Mattia Pasini        Ioda FTR                + 56.089s
21.  Marc Marquez         Catalunya Suter       + 1m04.697s
22.  Michele Pirro        Gresini Moriwaki      + 1m04.890s
23.  Robertino Pietri     Italtrans Suter       + 1m17.101s
24.  Santiago Hernandez   SAG FTR               + 1m18.110s
25.  Scott Redding        Marc VDS Suter        + 1m26.190s
26.  Xavier Simeon        Tech 3                + 1m27.600s
27.  Anthony West         MZ                    + 1m36.540s
28.  Mashel Al Naimi      QMMF Moriwaki             + 1 lap
29.  Bradley Smith        Tech 3                   + 2 laps
                                                           
Retirements:                                        
                                                           
     Valentin Debise      Speed Up FTR              23 laps
     Ratthapark Wilairot  SAG FTR                   21 laps
     Mika Kallio          Marc VDS Suter            18 laps
     Aleix Espargaro      Pons Kalex                18 laps
     Kenan Sofuoglu       Technomag-CIP Suter       17 laps
     Jules Cluzel         Forward Suter             11 laps
     Steven Odendaal      MS Suter                   7 laps
     Thomas Luthi         Interwetten Suter          4 laps

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Moto2: Bradl takes another Moto2 pole
Next article Moto2: Bradl takes fourth consecutive pole

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe