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Race report

Le Mans Moto2: Rins holds off Corsi for win

Alex Rins picked up his second win of the 2016 Moto2 season at Le Mans, overtaking poleman Thomas Luthi early on and then fending off Simone Corsi.

Alex Rins, Paginas Amarillas HP 40

Alex Rins, Paginas Amarillas HP 40

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Alex Rins, Paginas Amarillas HP 40
Alex Rins, Paginas Amarillas HP 40
Simone Corsi
Simone Corsi
Thomas Lüthi, Interwetten
Thomas Lüthi, Interwetten

And with erstwhile points leader Sam Lowes having finished just sixth, a victory for Rins promoted him to the top of the standings after five races.

Off the line, it was a stellar getaway for poleman Luthi and a rather sluggish one for Rins, the Spaniard dropping behind Franco Morbidelli, Takaaki Nakagami and Corsi.

Rins quickly cleared Corsi, however, before the two of them passed Nakagami and then Morbidelli, setting out after Luthi.

From that point on, Luthi and Rins appeared set to pull away from the field - but as they began to duel on lap five, with Rins taking the lead at La Musee before the Swiss rider snatched it back, their breakaway came to naught.

On lap seven, Rins cleared Luthi again, and before the poleman could respond, he was divebombed into Turn 1 by Corsi and then slipped back to fourth behind Lorenzo Baldassarri.

It took Luthi until well past halfway to clear Baldassarri, at which point the Swiss rider has slipped to a second and a half down on two leaders - whereas the Italian would drop his bike on the ground with five laps to go.

Out front, Corsi kept up with Rins and looked as if he would be able to mount a last-gasp challenge for victory - but the Italian instead slipped back in the final laps, finishing almost two seconds adrift.

Luthi completed the podium, with Morbidelli and Nakagami making up the top five ahead of Lowes.

It was seventh for Axel Pons - a repeat of his best-ever finish in Moto2 - with Hafizh Syahrin taking eighth ahead of of Luis Salom and last year's Moto3 runner-up Miguel Oliveira.

Crashing along with Baldassarri were Alex Marquez, Julian Simon, MotoGP-bound Jonas Folger and reigning champion Johann Zarco.

Race results

Pos.RiderBikeTime
1 SpainAlex Rins Kalex 42:27.312
2 ItalySimone Corsi Speed Up +1.802
3 SwitzerlandThomas Luthi Kalex +4.608
4 ItalyFranco Morbidelli Kalex +9.148
5 JapanTakaaki Nakagami Kalex +9.828
6 United KingdomSam Lowes Kalex +10.626
7 SpainAxel Pons Kalex +25.477
8 MalaysiaHafizh Syahrin Kalex +25.961
9 PortugalMiguel Oliveira Kalex +29.481
10 SpainLuis Salom Kalex +29.368
11 BelgiumXavier Simeon Speed Up +29.573
12 ItalyLuca Marini Kalex +29.773
13 SwitzerlandDominique Aegerter Kalex +30.183
14 GermanyMarcel Schrötter Kalex +30.244
15 SpainXavi Vierge Tech 3 +36.538
16 ItalyMattia Pasini Kalex +38.602
17 ItalyLorenzo Baldassarri Kalex +44.911
18 SwitzerlandRobin Mulhauser Kalex +45.297
19 United KingdomDanny Kent Kalex +45.755
20 SpainIsaac Viñales Tech 3 +50.278
21 ThailandRatthapark Wilairot Kalex +55.773
22 ItalyAlessandro Tonucci Kalex +1:01.790
23 SwitzerlandJesko Raffin Kalex +1:02.201
24 FranceJohann Zarco Kalex +1:02.484
25 Danny Eslick Suter +1:39.502
R Alex Marquez Kalex  
R Julian Simon Speed Up  
R Jonas Folger Kalex  
DNS Sandro Cortese Kalex  

 

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Edition

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