Marc Marquez wins hard-fought Moto2 race at Mugello

Just 0.4 seconds covered the three riders at the line, as they broke away from what had been a five-bike battle also involving Alex de Angelis and Andrea Iannone.

At first it had been Marquez and Smith escaping from the field together, before first Bradl, then the two Italians as well (Iannone flying through from 14th on the grid) joined them.

Bradl squeezed through to the front for the first time just before half-distance, but could not get away. Going into the closing laps, Marquez and Bradl would exchange the lead again and again, with Smith also sneaking into the lead for a few yards.

Marquez was back in front going onto the final lap, and despite points leader Bradl's best efforts to get a better run to the line, the Spaniard held on. Smith was right with them, his third consecutive podium being his first in a dry Moto2 race.

Behind de Angelis and Iannone, Tom Luthi and Simone Corsi fought through to sixth and seventh from 24th and 23rd on the grid respectively. Max Neukirchner, taking his best Moto2 result yet, Aleix Espargaro, Kenan Sofuoglu and Dominique Aegerter chased them home.

Yonny Hernandez and Pol Espargaro were also fighting for top six positions early on before both fell in separate incidents.

Results - 21 laps:

Pos  Rider                Team/Bike               Time/Gap
 1.  Marc Marquez         Catalunya Suter       40m02.941s
 2.  Stefan Bradl         Kiefer Kalex            + 0.071s
 3.  Bradley Smith        Tech 3                  + 0.419s
 4.  Alex de Angelis      JIR Motobi              + 2.091s
 5.  Andrea Iannone       Speed Master Suter      + 4.595s
 6.  Thomas Luthi         Paddock Suter          + 13.021s
 7.  Simone Corsi         Ioda FTR               + 13.092s
 8.  Max Neukirchner      MZ                     + 13.409s
 9.  Aleix Espargaro      Pons Kalex             + 14.139s
10.  Kenan Sofuoglu       Technomag-CIP Suter    + 14.419s
11.  Dominique Aegerter   Technomag-CIP Suter    + 15.072s
12.  Xavier Simeon        Tech 3                 + 17.996s
13.  Randy Krummenacher   Kiefer Kalex           + 18.573s
14.  Yuki Takahashi       Gresini Moriwaki       + 19.720s
15.  Jules Cluzel         Forward Suter          + 20.357s
16.  Esteve Rabat         Blusens FTR            + 22.208s
17.  Mika Kallio          Marc VDS Suter         + 22.420s
18.  Valentin Debise      Speed Up FTR           + 24.297s
19.  Jordi Torres         Aspar Suter            + 28.679s
20.  Mattia Pasini        Ioda FTR               + 28.876s
21.  Anthony West         MZ                     + 30.778s
22.  Ricard Cardus        QMMF Moriwaki          + 33.084s
23.  Claudio Corti        Italtrans Suter        + 34.568s
24.  Mike di Meglio       Tech 3                 + 36.000s
25.  Carmelo Morales      G22 Moriwaki           + 36.194s
26.  Robertino Pietri     Italtrans Suter        + 36.195s
27.  Scott Redding        Marc VDS Suter         + 46.731s
28.  Pol Espargaro        Speed Up FTR           + 49.054s
29.  Kenny Noyes          Avintia FTR            + 50.101s
30.  Santiago Hernandez   SAG FTR              + 1m08.557s
31.  Mashel Al Naimi      QMMF Moriwaki            + 1 lap

Retirements:

     Ratthapark Wilairot  SAG FTR                  14 laps
     Alex Baldolini       Forward Suter            11 laps
     Mattia Tarozzi       Faenza Suter             11 laps
     Yonny Hernandez      Blusens FTR               7 laps
     Tommaso Lorenzetti   Castello FTR              6 laps
     Michele Pirro        Gresini Moriwaki          3 laps
     Raffaele de Rosa     Aspar Suter               0 laps