Moto2: Bradl runs away with Qatar Moto2
Stefan Bradl dominated the Moto2 season-opener in Qatar, leaving a spectacular battle for second place in his wake
Just as Nico Terol had done in the preceding 125cc event, Bradl surged away from pole position and never looked back. Although his performance was not quite as crushing as Terol's had been in the smaller class, Bradl got his lead up to seven seconds for a while and crossed the line 4.3s in front of the pack, having been in a class of his own.
Andrea Iannone battled through from 16th on the grid to take an excellent second place, pushing Tom Luthi back to third.
Alex de Angelis also mounted a late charge to grab fourth from long-time podium contender Yuki Takahashi, as the riders in second through fifth places battled all the way to the flag.
Simone Corsi fended off Jules Cluzel and Michele Pirro to take sixth, while Bradley Smith hung on to ninth on his Moto2 debut - leading home last year's championship runner-up Julian Simon and ex-MotoGP rider Aleix Espargaro.
Front-row qualifier Marc Marquez tumbled down the order at the start, quickly fought back from 11th to sixth, but then crashed out on lap four.
Another man to fall early was regular frontrunner Scott Redding, who rejoined and battled to 31st with a damaged bike.
Results - 20 laps:
Pos Rider Team/Bike Time/Gap
1. Stefan Bradl Kiefer Kalex 40m38.549s
2. Andrea Iannone Speed Master Suter + 4.330s
3. Thomas Luthi Interwetten Suter + 5.137s
4. Alex De Angelis JiR Motobi + 5.925s
5. Yuki Takahashi Gresini Moriwaki + 6.621s
6. Simone Corsi Ioda FTR + 14.217s
7. Jules Cluzel Forward Suter + 14.257s
8. Michele Pirro Gresini Moriwaki + 14.501s
9. Bradley Smith Tech 3 + 18.910s
10. Julian Simon Aspar Suter + 19.174s
11. Aleix Espargaro Pons Kalex + 19.442s
12. Yonny Hernandez Blusens FTR + 20.830s
13. Dominique Aegerter Technomag-CIP Suter + 20.837s
14. Esteve Rabat Blusens FTR + 20.855s
15. Max Neukirchner MZ + 26.803s
16. Axel Pons Pons Kalex + 27.295s
17. Ricard Cardus QMMF Moriwaki + 28.080s
18. Kenan Sofuoglu Technomag-CIP Suter + 28.212s
19. Mike di Meglio Tech 3 + 34.939s
20. Mika Kallio Marc VDS Suter + 34.962s
21. Claudio Corti Italtrans Suter + 37.982s
22. Pol Espargaro Speed Up FTR + 43.491s
23. Valentin Debise Speed Up FTR + 43.659s
24. Kenny Noyes Avintia FTR + 47.476s
25. Xavier Simeon Tech 3 + 47.755s
26. Javier Fores Aspar Suter + 50.355s
27. Randy Krummenache Kiefer Kalex + 50.544s
28. Alex Baldolini Forward Suter + 1m04.879s
29. Robertino Pietri Italtrans Suter + 1m09.672s
30. Raffaele de Rosa G22 Moriwaki + 1m09.781s
31. Scott Redding Marc VDS Suter + 1m23.743s
32. Nasser Hasan Al Malki QMMF Moriwaki + 1m39.105s
Retirements:
Ratthapark Wilairot SAG FTR 10 laps
Kev Coghlan Castello FTR 6 laps
Marc Marquez Repsol Suter 4 laps
Santiago Hernandez SAG FTR 4 laps
Anthony West MZ 4 laps
Mattia Pasini Ioda FTR 3 laps
Mashel Al Naimi QMMF Moriwaki 0 laps
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