Submitted by David Emmett on
Results and summary of a scintillating Moto2 race at Misano:
Marc Marquez has taken victory in a hard-fought last-lap battle with his bitter rival Pol Espargaro in a shortened and restarted race at Misano. With the victory, Marquez extends his lead to 53 points, bringing the 2012 Moto2 title ever closer.
The race between the two would become a 14-lap sprint, the first attempt to run the race being red-flagged after Gino Rea's engine let go in a cloud of oily smoke at the end of the fourth lap. Andrea Iannone capitalized on starting from pole, awarded for leading the first race when it was red-flagged, and immediately started to put a gap into the rest of the field. Pol Espargaro, with some help from his teammate Tito Rabat, had a much better start to the second race, sitting right on Marquez tail.
A mistake by Marquez in the final corner allowed both Rabat and Espargaro past, and Espargaro was soon also past his teammate and off to chase Iannone. The Italian had appeared unassailable, but after the halfway point, his pace started to slow. Espargaro was soon upon Iannone, and then took the lead, with Marquez right on his tail. The race would be decided in a breathtaking last-lap showdown, both men committed to doing anything to beat the other. Espargaro led the first part of the lap, but Marquez was edging closer. The Catalunya Caixa man launched his first attack down the back straight, sliding past Esparagaro into Quercia. Espargaro counterattacked at Tramonoto, but could not quite make his way past. Instead, he slingshot his way past Marquez out of Curvone, attempting to outbrake him into turn 13. It was a brave but futile attempt, Marquez hanging on by the skin of his teeth, then forcing Espargaro wide through the tight Turn 14. Another block into turn 15, and victory belonged to Marquez. Espargaro was forced to settle for 2nd, while Iannone held on further back to 3rd.
The victory gives Marquez a 53 point lead in the championship. With five races left to go, that is a very comfortable situation to be in indeed.
Results:
| Pos. | No. | Rider | Manufacturer | Time | Diff |
| 1 | 93 | Marc MARQUEZ | SUTER | 23'11.278 | |
| 2 | 40 | Pol ESPARGARO | KALEX | 23'11.637 | 0.359 |
| 3 | 29 | Andrea IANNONE | SPEED UP | 23'12.912 | 1.634 |
| 4 | 36 | Mika KALLIO | KALEX | 23'16.356 | 5.078 |
| 5 | 80 | Esteve RABAT | KALEX | 23'16.524 | 5.246 |
| 6 | 77 | Dominique AEGERTER | SUTER | 23'16.848 | 5.570 |
| 7 | 45 | Scott REDDING | KALEX | 23'17.642 | 6.364 |
| 8 | 38 | Bradley SMITH | TECH 3 | 23'18.131 | 6.853 |
| 9 | 12 | Thomas LUTHI | SUTER | 23'18.758 | 7.480 |
| 10 | 5 | Johann ZARCO | MOTOBI | 23'19.267 | 7.989 |
| 11 | 30 | Takaaki NAKAGAMI | KALEX | 23'19.838 | 8.560 |
| 12 | 60 | Julian SIMON | SUTER | 23'22.787 | 11.509 |
| 13 | 15 | Alex DE ANGELIS | FTR | 23'29.607 | 18.329 |
| 14 | 71 | Claudio CORTI | KALEX | 23'29.620 | 18.342 |
| 15 | 18 | Nicolas TEROL | SUTER | 23'29.846 | 18.568 |
| 16 | 81 | Jordi TORRES | SUTER | 23'29.965 | 18.687 |
| 17 | 49 | Axel PONS | KALEX | 23'30.140 | 18.862 |
| 18 | 63 | Mike DI MEGLIO | KALEX | 23'36.923 | 25.645 |
| 19 | 14 | Ratthapark WILAIROT | SUTER | 23'41.281 | 30.003 |
| 20 | 95 | Anthony WEST | SPEED UP | 23'43.717 | 32.439 |
| 21 | 75 | Tomoyoshi KOYAMA | SUTER | 23'44.399 | 33.121 |
| 22 | 23 | Marcel SCHROTTER | BIMOTA | 23'44.536 | 33.258 |
| 23 | 22 | Alessandro ANDREOZZI | SPEED UP | 23'44.810 | 33.532 |
| 24 | 10 | Marco COLANDREA | FTR | 23'58.581 | 47.303 |
| Not Classified | |||||
| 72 | Yuki TAKAHASHI | FTR | 13'25.662 | 6 laps | |
| 3 | Simone CORSI | FTR | 13'25.748 | 6 laps | |
| 19 | Xavier SIMEON | TECH 3 | 10'06.599 | 8 laps | |
| 82 | Elena ROSELL | SPEED UP | 1'52.264 | 13 laps | |
| Not on Restart Grid | |||||
| 8 | Gino REA | SUTER | |||
| 84 | Steven ODENDAAL | AJR | |||
Comments
Great Race but....
Admittedly Espargago left a hole for Marquez to squeek through but i would have liked to see MM win without "forcing Espargaro wide through the tight Turn 14. Another block into turn 15". That's racing- I guess.
oily smoke
Was this ever resolved? To me it looked like steam - water hose or the like. The marshals came out and looked like they could not find any oil.