Argentina Moto2: Morbidelli wins again as Marquez crashes
Franco Morbidelli took his second Moto2 win in as many races in Argentina, after his teammate and closest challenger Alex Marquez fell on the final lap.
The race started with Miguel Oliveira as the polesitter, the Portuguese rider continuing class newcomer KTM's impressive start to the year.
However, at the start, Morbidelli forced his way past Oliveira, who got shuffled further down the order, allowing Marquez and Thomas Luthi (CarXpert Interwetten) through as well.
While he quickly took third back, the Marc VDS duo of Morbidelli and Marquez at the front pulled away, the former quickly opening up a lead of half a second.
But in the second half of the race Marquez and Oliveira started to consistently inch closer to the leader, with the Spanish rider right on the tail of his teammate as the final five laps began.
Two laps later, Marquez managed to find his way by Morbidelli, only for the Italian to fight back immediately.
The Spaniard continued to pile the pressure on Morbidelli, but pushed too hard and crashed out on the final lap at Turn 7.
Morbidelli therefore escaped with his second straight victory, as Oliveira, who couldn't keep up with the Marc VDS teammates in the final laps, inherited second.
"It's really nice to win again after Qatar," said Morbidelli. "I tried to pull away, and I didn't manage to, but at the end I had a bit more. Unfortunately Alex crashed, but a good result for me."
Luthi completed the podium nearly nine seconds adrift, followed by Lorenzo Baldassarri (Forward).
Sandro Cortese (Intact) led a group of several riders in what had been the fight for sixth, but it was Xavi Vierge (Tech 3) who finally secured the spot that became fifth after Marquez's crash.
Simone Corsi (Speed Up) was sixth ahead of top rookie Francesco Bagnaia (Sky Racing VR46) and Cortese.
Brad Binder, still struggling with an arm injury, brought the second Ajo-run KTM into the top 10 in ninth, followed by Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas Raceline).
Qatar podium finisher Takaaki Nakagami was one of several early casualties, as the Japanese rider lost control of his bike and took both himself and Remy Gardner out at Turn 1 at the start.
Axel Pons and Fabio Quartararo later made contact, both ending up in the gravel as a result, while Xavier Simeon also suffered a heavy highside crash.
Race results:
Pos. | # | Driver | Bike | Time/Gap |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 21 | Franco Morbidelli | Kalex | 39'50.036 |
2 | 44 | Miguel Oliveira | KTM | 1.683 |
3 | 12 | Thomas Luthi | Kalex | 10.551 |
4 | 7 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | Kalex | 15.577 |
5 | 97 | Xavi Vierge | Tech 3 | 24.527 |
6 | 24 | Simone Corsi | Speed Up | 24.783 |
7 | 42 | Francesco Bagnaia | Kalex | 24.965 |
8 | 11 | Sandro Cortese | Suter | 25.156 |
9 | 41 | Brad Binder | KTM | 25.622 |
10 | 55 | Hafizh Syahrin | Kalex | 25.933 |
11 | 23 | Marcel Schrötter | Suter | 26.139 |
12 | 10 | Luca Marini | Kalex | 26.456 |
13 | 2 | Jesko Raffin | Kalex | 26.697 |
14 | 77 | Dominique Aegerter | Suter | 27.461 |
15 | 9 | Jorge Navarro | Kalex | 27.628 |
16 | 57 | Edgar Pons | Kalex | 36.690 |
17 | 32 | Isaac Viñales | Kalex | 39.132 |
18 | 60 | Julian Simon | Kalex | 39.297 |
19 | 45 | Tetsuta Nagashima | Kalex | 39.444 |
20 | 54 | Mattia Pasini | Kalex | 43.908 |
21 | 73 | Alex Marquez | Kalex | 44.165 |
22 | 68 | Yonny Hernandez | Kalex | 45.719 |
23 | 62 | Stefano Manzi | Kalex | 52.618 |
24 | 89 | Khairul Idham Pawi | Kalex | 59.071 |
25 | 47 | Axel Bassani | Speed Up | 1'02.113 |
Ret | 52 | Danny Kent | Suter | 11 laps |
Ret | 5 | Andrea Locatelli | Kalex | 16 laps |
Ret | 19 | Xavier Simeon | Kalex | 21 laps |
Ret | 49 | Axel Pons | Kalex | 22 laps |
Ret | 40 | Fabio Quartararo | Kalex | 22 laps |
Ret | 30 | Takaaki Nakagami | Kalex | 22 laps |
Ret | 87 | Remy Gardner | Tech 3 |
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