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Edition

Australia
Race report

Assen Moto2: Bagnaia wins to rebuild points lead

Sky Racing Team VR46 rider Francesco Bagnaia eased to his fourth Moto2 win of the 2018 season to extend his championship lead.

Podium: Race winner Francesco Bagnaia, Sky Racing Team VR46

Podium: Race winner Francesco Bagnaia, Sky Racing Team VR46

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Bagnaia led from pole position and immediately began to build a gap to the chasing field, working up a 2.5s advantage over Pons racer Lorenzo Baldassarri who came up from 13th on the grid.

Baldassarri had just started nibbling into Bagnaia’s lead, bringing it down to 1.5s, when he picked up a rear puncture and was forced to pit.

That promoted Catalan winner Fabio Quartararo (Speed Up) to second from 10th on the grid, after he'd picked up a three-place grid penalty for not immediately entering the pit lane during a red flag period in qualifying.

Intact GP’s Marcel Schrotter held that second spot in the early stages from the front row of the grid, but he let Marc VDS rider Alex Marquez through when he went deep into the Timmer chicane.

In the closing stages Quartararo was charging through the field, coming through with a series of aggressive moves culminating in a pass on Marquez at Turn 4 for second.

Marquez completed the podium ahead of Schrotter, with reigning Moto3 champion Joan Mir fifth from ninth on the grid.

Red Bull KTM Ajo’s Miguel Oliviera was sixth from 17th on the grid to sit 16 points adrift of Bagnaia in the championship.

His KTM teammate Brad Binder was seventh ahead of Sky Racing’s Luca Marini, who had scored his first front row start in Grand Prix racing.

Former Aprilia MotoGP rider Sam Lowes was ninth for the CGBM Evolution squad, with Andrea Locatelli converting his first top-10 Moto2 qualifying performance into a 10th-place finish for Italtrans.

Speed Up racer Danny Kent retired from the race after a crash at the start of the race.

SIC Racing Team rider Niki Tuuli did not start the race after a heavy crash in qualifying, which required surgery on his left hand.

Race results:

Pos.#RiderBikeTime/Gap
1 42 italy Francesco Bagnaia Kalex 39'30.436 
2 20 france Fabio Quartararo Speed Up 1.748
3 73 spain Alex Marquez Kalex 2.179
4 23 germany Marcel Schrötter Kalex 4.094
5 36 spain Joan Mir Kalex 4.342
6 44 portugal Miguel Oliveira KTM 5.230
7 41 south_africa Brad Binder KTM 9.568
8 10 italy Luca Marini Kalex 9.960
9 22 united_kingdom Sam Lowes KTM 14.133
10 5 italy Andrea Locatelli Kalex 14.332
11 54 italy Mattia Pasini Kalex 18.525
12 40 spain Augusto Fernandez Kalex 20.297
13 9 spain Jorge Navarro Kalex 20.867
14 77 switzerland Dominique Aegerter KTM 27.394
15 24 italy Simone Corsi Kalex 28.424
16 27 spain Iker Lecuona KTM 28.505
17 64 netherlands Bo Bendsneyder Tech 3 28.674
18 87 australia Remy Gardner Tech 3 28.888
19 89 malaysia Khairul Idham Pawi Kalex 29.441
20 4 south_africa Steven Odendaal NTS 39.321
21 16 united_states Joe Roberts NTS 39.407
22 32 spain Isaac Viñales Kalex 39.750
23 95 france Jules Danilo Kalex 48.946
24 51 brazil Eric Granado Suter 48.976
25 21 italy Federico Fuligni Kalex 1'27.879
26 7 italy Lorenzo Baldassarri Kalex 1 lap
Ret  13 italy Romano Fenati Kalex 4 laps
Ret  97 spain Xavi Vierge Kalex 15 laps
Ret  62 italy Stefano Manzi Suter 18 laps
Ret  52 united_kingdom Danny Kent Speed Up  

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Edition

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