At the “BMW M Grand Prix of Styria”, speed-up driver Aron Canet (Aspar Team) set off from pole position for the first time in his young Moto2 career. Next to him was the Red Bull-KTM-Ajo duo Jorge Martin and Tetsuta Nagashima on their Kalex machines.
By the way: Alex Rins last achieved a victory in the middle class of the motorcycle world championship in 2015 in Australia in his rookie year.
Experienced Swiss Tom Lüthi came from 7th on the grid, World Championship leader Luca Marini only from 12. The starting position was more difficult for the second Intact GP driver Marcel Schrötter and NTS driver Dominique Aegerter, they started from 21st and 28th on the grid .
Martin, the winner of the previous week, took command right from the start. Bezzecchi, on the other hand, first had to iron out a mistake from the first round, but in the end the two made first place – including a dramatic finale.
This is how the Moto2 race went in detail
Start: Jorge Martin comes out of the first corner first – followed by Canet, Nagashima, Bezzecchi, Fernandez and Gardner.
1st lap: Bezzecchi makes a mistake in turn 3 and drops back to 8th place. Tom Lüthi is in 6th place. Fernandez crashes in the last corner!
2nd lap: Pole-setter Canet lands in the gravel trap at turn 4! The Spaniard is battered. Lüthi came in fourth behind Gardner, Nagashima and the leading Martin. Schrötter is meanwhile already in the points.
3rd lap: Lowes clears Chantra and Navarro in turn 3, but the Briton can then continue. Chantra is brought to the medical center for control, where Canet is already located.
4th round: Schrötter grabs Bastianini and is new tenth.
5th lap: Bezzecchi, currently the fastest on the route, grabs to the start-finish Lüthi. World Championship leader Marini follows in 6th place. Martin Nagashima (+ 0.2 sec) can no longer lag behind at the top.
6th lap: Lowes crashes again at Turn 4, so his race is finally over, also because he gets the black flag.
7th lap: Martin and Nagashima are 0.4 seconds ahead of Gardner, another 0.5 seconds behind Bezzecchi is fighting for a place on the podium. Before Lüthi (5th) there is already a gap of 1.2 seconds.
8th round: Aegerter is now in 19th place.
Round 9: Gardner catches up with Nagashima, Bezzecchi follows in tow.
10th lap: Martin has a small lead of 0.5 seconds.
11th round: Gardner grabs second place from Nagashima, who now has to defend himself against Bezzecchi. Martin extends his lead to one second.
Round 12: Bezzecchi finally passes Nagashima. Lüthi is 0.9 seconds behind the Japanese in 5th place.
13th round: Martin turns up, the lead grows to 1.5 seconds at halftime.
14th lap: Bezzecchi is hanging on Gardner’s rear wheel. Lüthi catches up tenth by tenth on Nagashima (4th).
16. Round: Bezzecchi wins the duel against Gardner, Nagashima comes closer – and depends on Lüthi again.
17th lap: «Bezz» is almost two tenths of a second on Martin.
18th round: Vierge takes 6th place from Marini.
19th round: Bezzecchi continues to catch up! Six laps to go, the gap is 1.2 seconds.
20th lap: Gardner moves closer again. Schrötter (11th) is now one of the many drivers who receive a “track limits warning”. Aegerter turns into the box.
21st round: Bezzecchi has Martin in his sights – and comes within 0.5 seconds!
22nd round: Bezzecchi makes a small mistake, but at the end of the round he is down to 0.4 sec. Another 0.8 seconds behind is Gardner, then Nagashima and Lüthi each with a similar gap.
23rd round: Bezzecchi has a tenth on his side again.
24th lap: Two laps before the end, the Sky VR46 driver sucks down to 0.2 seconds.
Last lap: Bezzecchi still comes up, but can no longer launch an attack. Martin crossed the finish line as the winner for the second time in a row, exactly 0.06 seconds before Bezz. Gardner is also on the podium.
On arrival at the Parc Fermé, the shock for Martin: He was transferred to second place because he disregarded the “track limits” on the last lap.
This means that the Italian national anthem will be heard again today in Spielberg, after another Sky VR46 rider, Celestino Vietti, celebrated his maiden win in the World Championship in the Moto3 race. For Bezzecchi it is the first Moto2 victory of his career.
Result Moto2, Spielberg, 23 August:
1. Bezzecchi, Kalex 37:12,461 min
2. Martin, Kalex *
3. Gardner, Kalex, + 1,027 sec
4. Nagashima, Kalex, + 1,974
5. Lüthi, Kalex, + 3.230
6. Virgo, Kalex, + 6.192
7. Marini, Kalex, + 8.634
8. Dixon, Kalex, + 9,005
9. Garzo, Kalex, + 9,620
10. Bastianini, Kalex, + 10,051
11. Schrötter, Kalex, + 10.238
12. Roberts, Kalex, + 14,857
13. Bulega, Kalex, + 17,968
14. Manzi, MV Agusta, + 20,956
15. Baldassarri, Kalex, + 21.189
* Shifted one place back
Moto2 World Championship stand after 6 of 15 races:
1. Marini, 87 points. 2. Bastianini, 79. 3. Martin, 79. 4. Nagashima, 68. 5. Bezzecchi, 65. 6. Lowes, 59. 7. Vierge, 46. 8. Canet, 43. 9. Gardner, 41. 10. Roberts, 39. 11. Schrötter, 37. 12. Lüthi, 35. Also: 22. Aegerter, 4.
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