Submitted by Mike Lewis on
Fabio Quartararo took the lead of the Moto2 race at Motegi within two laps and never let go, taking his second win of the season and cementing the young French rider's early promise as a rider to watch. The Sunday win, however, wasn't carefree as the Speed Up rider faced relentless pressure from championship leader Francesco Bagnaia who took a close second at the checkered flag.
Lorenzo Baldasari held on for a lonley third place to grab the final spot on the podium under a clear blue sky. Miguel Oliveira, secong in the championship, climbed through the ranks after a poor start to finish fourth just in front of Alex Marquez. The fourth place for Oliveira, however, widened the championship gap to Baldasari by another seven points leaving the two at 279 to 244 respectively.
Alex Marquez took fifth after dropping as low as eighth in the middle of the race. Brad Binder, consistent all weekend, grabbed sixth just ahead of August Fernandez (7th). Xavi Vierge, Iker Lecuona and Luca Marini completed the top 10.
The Race
Bagnaia push to the front immediately, grabbing the holeshot and establishing a small gap within three corners. But matching the championship-leader's pace was Quartararo. The race quickly settled into a rythm with Baldassarri in third (a position he'd hold for the entire race) and Xavi Vierge in fourth, chased by Alex Marquez, Brad Binder and Agusto Fernandez.
Oliveira, anxious to catch his title rival, made quick work of Marquez and moved into fifth. With 20 laps to go, Quartararo dove inside Bagnaia to seize the lead. Bagnaia had a clear choice to make: Hunt down and try to pass Quartararo immediately or settle into second place behind the Frenchman who didn't factor into the championship.
Bagnaia chose the latter.
Quartararo opened gap or two-tenths of a second. With 18 laps to go, it grew into four-tenths as he began setting some of the fastest laps of the race. But a handful of laps later, Bagnaia began to claw back some time, closing within a tenth. The pair opened a gap on the rest of the field.
Oliveira began to quicken his pace and with eight laps remaining, passed Veirge for fourth. But by this point, the leaders were out front by 1.3 seconds. At the front, Bagnaia began to hound Quartararo. Nose to tail, the two began to lap in the 1'51s. With four laps remaining, Bagnaia lunged at Turn Seven only to have the opening slammed shut by Quartararo. Bagnaia still pressed.
On the race's final lap and unwilling to give up a shot at a second Moto2 career win, Quartararo set the fastest lap of race, a 1'51.381 to secure the lead and take the win.
Update:
After the race, the tire pressures of Fabio Quartararo were found to be below the minimum set by Dunlop, the official tire supplier. Quartararo was disqualified for contravening section 2.5.4.9.1 of the FIM Grand Prix Regulations. Quartararo's result is nullified, making Pecco Bagnaia the winner.
Updated result:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Time/Diff |
1 | 42 | Francesco Bagnaia | Kalex | 41'04.294 |
2 | 7 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | Kalex | +6.227 |
3 | 44 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM | +11.553 |
4 | 73 | Alex Marquez | Kalex | +12.083 |
5 | 41 | Brad Binder | KTM | +12.348 |
6 | 40 | Augusto Fernandez | Kalex | +12.701 |
7 | 97 | Xavi Vierge | Kalex | +13.652 |
8 | 27 | Iker Lecuona | KTM | +13.811 |
9 | 10 | Luca Marini | Kalex | +15.604 |
10 | 23 | Marcel Schrotter | Kalex | +17.556 |
11 | 36 | Joan Mir | Kalex | +19.221 |
12 | 45 | Tetsuta Nagashima | Kalex | +19.811 |
13 | 77 | Dominique Aegerter | KTM | +20.278 |
14 | 54 | Mattia Pasini | Kalex | +23.091 |
15 | 87 | Remy Gardner | Tech 3 | +24.468 |
16 | 5 | Andrea Locatelli | Kalex | +24.622 |
17 | 22 | Sam Lowes | KTM | +26.288 |
18 | 16 | Joe Roberts | NTS | +33.887 |
19 | 4 | Steven Odendaal | NTS | +34.074 |
20 | 2 | Jesko Raffin | Kalex | +34.303 |
21 | 66 | Niki Tuuli | Kalex | +37.458 |
22 | 89 | Khairul Idham Pawi | Kalex | +37.921 |
23 | 57 | Edgar Pons | Speed Up | +42.570 |
24 | 62 | Stefano Manzi | Suter | +46.667 |
25 | 95 | Jules Danilo | Kalex | +56.500 |
26 | 32 | Isaac Viñales | Suter | +59.659 |
27 | 18 | Xavi Cardelus | Kalex | +1'07.065 |
20 | FRA | Mb Conveyors - Speed Up | 0 Lap | |
Not Classified | ||||
64 | Bo Bendsneyder | Tech 3 | 1 Lap | |
9 | Jorge Navarro | Kalex | 9 Laps | |
21 | Federico Fuligni | Kalex | 13 Laps | |
24 | Simone Corsi | Kalex | 19 Laps |
Comments
Bummer for Fabio
to get marked as a cheater..
Mike, 2 typos in second paragraph: 1) Oliveria "seconq" 2) "championship gap to Baldassarri" should be Bagnaia, yes?
At least it’s not Oil this time...
As an oil man I’d have loved to know what Pasini & Aegerters’ teams did-or didn’t do with the oil or viscosity of it...!?
.002 under
.002 under
Oof!
I remember "Stevie Wonder Head" Redding exploding his Bstone rear running it way under pressure parameters and creating a safety issue. But he was on a Ducati blaster and is a big guy. I don't know what the minimum pressure is for the Moto2 Dunlop, but am wondering with convern if it is a conservative one or generous.
Quartararo and his bike looked great. He and Pecco were FLYING. Nice 10 min highlights here:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1abyxlLHVzY
Over Zealous ??
His tyre was found to be only 0.3 psi under the minimum.
This is an incredibly small increment.
Surely a warning would have been fairer ?
Seeing how the rider doesn't set his own pressures, howabout the team losing points or being fined on the first offence ?
Seems unfair to me..
change of approach
why can't they test the tires before the race of everyone.
Telemetry
I prefer to see the races decided on the track.
If the officials have the information surely the software could flag the low pressure problem. Tell the team & give them an opportunity to fix the issue! If it's really a safety hazard surely they have a duty of care to warn the rider & avoid a high speed blowout. Scott Redding, Barry Sheene Daytona 1977...or do they think it adds to the drama of the show.
Safety issue or not ??
Safety issue or not ??
If it's a real safety hazard why let the bike onto the circuit? If the bike don't comply with the regs then it wouldn't pass scrutineering, and so shouldn't be allowed out of pitlane.
So unsafe that it won the race
What a farce! His tyre pressures were so close that, had they been set earlier in the day, that much could conceivably have osmosed or leaked.
And at the end of the day, his pressures were obviously fine - because his tyres stayed intact the whole race and HE WON.