Pol Espargaro - Photo Credit: MotoGP.com
Pol Espargaro completed a dominant British Grand Prix weekend by winning today's Moto2 race with Scott Redding beating Marc Marquez on the last lap to claim a sensational second on home soil. All three riders were fighting for the lead along with Andrea Iannone and Simone Corsi but Espargaro upped the pace shortly after half distance and had too much for his pursuers.
The opening lap saw a thrilling battle for the lead between the two front running Brits with Bradley Smith making a lightning getaway before scything around the outside of Espargaro into turn one, followed through by Redding. The Marc VDS youngster then dived up the inside of Smith into Brooklands but his lead only lasted until Maggotts when the no.38 forced his way back through. Smith's move cost him momentum through Becketts, allowing Redding back through but the Tech 3 rider finally made the move stick at the end of the Hangar Straight.
Unfortunately for Smith, that only ensured he led the first lap and he wouldn't lead another. Redding got his revenge at Brooklands on lap two before a forceful move by Espargaro at Stowe knocked Smith out of his rhythm, allowing Marquez and Iannone through too. Smith also fell behind Simone Corsi on the third lap and was forced to fend off Claudio Corti for sixth.
Redding kept hold of the lead until the end of lap eight when Espargaro drafted past him on the run towards Stowe and unfortunately for Scott, Andrea Iannone and Marc Marquez would soon sneak past as well. Iannone's spell in second was rather brief though and as his pace dipped, the fight for second became a straight shootout between the Spaniard and the Briton.
With just over four laps to go, Redding made his move at Stowe but the next time the pair entered the Hanger Straight, Marquez's Suter breezed past the Kalex as if it was standing still. That didn't bode well for Redding who regained P2 at Village at the start of the final lap but frustratingly, Marquez would have the beating of him down the Hangar Straight again.
Just Vale and Club remained and inevitably, Redding launched an attack into the left hander and stormed up the inside of Marquez, who tried to strike back on the inside of the final corner. Redding was wise to that though and chopped across the no.93, securing second to equal his career best result in the intermediate class.
While they were squabbling, Espargaro was busy taking the chequered flag for his second win of the season from Redding, Marquez, Iannone and Corsi. While the last lap didn't pan out in Marquez's favour, third was enough to move him back into the championship lead as previous leader Thomas Luthi had a poor race.
The Swiss rider started from the third row and languished in the bottom half of the top ten until the latter stages when he suddenly came alive. Chasing down the fight for sixth between Corti and Smith, Luthi broke the lap record and entered the final lap right on their tails. Smith led with one to go but fell back behind both his challengers before repeating his compatriot's move to beat Luthi at the very last corner, clinching seventh by 0.042s.
Dominique Aegerter and Mika Kallio completed the top ten while Gino Rea finished a lowly 24th despite finishing the first lap inside the top ten.
