Moto2: Elias wins as rivals crash out
Toni Elias took a comfortable second consecutive Moto2 victory at Le Mans as all his nearest rivals fell or hit trouble, leaving him to beat Julian Simon by 1.3 seconds
With pre-race championship leader Shoya Tomizawa among those having accidents, the result puts Elias to the head of the standings.
Elias was part of a large group of riders battling for the lead at first, but was the last man standing within just seven laps.
Alex Debon had led briefly but was given a jump-start penalty and could only recover to 16th.
Next to go was Tech 3's Yuki Takahashi, who fell when running a close fourth.
That left Elias fighting with polesitter Kenny Noyes and local favourite Jules Cluzel at the front, until Noyes crashed out of third and then Cluzel fell at the first corner on lap seven, just after battling past Elias to take the lead.
By this time Tomizawa was also out, having fallen twice - the second time doing enough damage to end his race. The Japanese rider had already been stuck in the lower midfield following his poor qualifying result.
Another big name involved in an accident was the luckless Alex de Angelis, who was fortunate not to be injured when his bike was wiped out by the crashed machine of Xavier Simeon, which slid back across the track and collected de Angelis.
Simon did his best to keep Elias under pressure but had to settle for second - still a good result for his first race on the Suter chassis.
Simone Corsi escaped from Andrea Iannone to complete the podium.
Gabor Talmacsi charged through from 19th on the grid to beat Sergio Gadea, Ratthapark Wilairot and Fonsi Nieto to fifth, while after crashing in qualifying Stefan Bradl recovered from 35th to ninth.
Pos Rider Bike Time/Gap
1. Toni Elias Moriwaki 43m29.277s
2. Julian Simon Suter + 1.336s
3. Simone Corsi Motobi + 2.831s
4. Andrea Iannone Speed Up + 4.880s
5. Gabor Talmacsi Speed Up + 13.293s
6. Sergio Gadea Pons Kalex + 13.415s
7. Ratthapark Wilairot Bimota + 14.294s
8. Fonsi Nieto Moriwaki + 14.554s
9. Stefan Bradl Suter + 23.503s
10. Roberto Rolfo Suter + 23.687s
11. Scott Redding Suter + 23.959s
12. Yonni Hernandez BQR + 24.955s
13. Lukas Pesek Moriwaki + 25.068s
14. Alex Baldolini ICP + 26.023s
15. Claudio Corti Suter + 28.765s
16. Alex Debon FTR + 32.240s
17. Niccolo Canepa Scot + 33.607s
18. Arne Tode Suter + 34.789s
19. Thomas Luthi Moriwaki + 43.180s
20. Mike di Meglio Suter + 43.522s
21. Vladimir Ivanov Moriwaki + 47.761s
22. Valentin Debise ADV + 51.571s
23. Robertino Pietri Suter + 59.692s
24. Joan Olive Promo Harris + 59.939s
25. Yannick Guerra Moriwaki + 1m07.377s
26. Anthony West MZ + 1m16.171s
27. Vladimir Leonov Suter + 1m16.528s
28. Mashel Al Naimi BQR + 1m20.977s
29. Bernat Martinez Bimota + 1m22.982s
30. Dominique Agerter Suter + 2 laps
Retirements:
Hector Faubel Suter 16 laps
Mattia Pasini Motobi 7 laps
Shoya Tomizawa Suter 7 laps
Jules Cluzel Suter 6 laps
Xavier Simeon Moriwaki 6 laps
Alex de Angelis Scot 6 laps
Raffaele de Rosa Tech 3 5 laps
Axel Pons Pons Kalex 5 laps
Kenny Noyes Promo Harris 4 laps
Yuki Takahashi Tech 3 4 laps
Karel Abraham FTR 1 lap
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