Mika Kallio has closed to within seven points of teammate Esteve Rabat in the Moto2 title race after winning the French Grand Prix at Le Mans. The Finn proved too strong for surprise challenger Simone Corsi, going on to claim back-to-back victories for the first time in his career.
Jonas Folger had shocked many with his first Moto2 pole position on Saturday but he didn’t lead the race for long as Kallio powered past at La Chapelle. Corsi however was the man leading the chase and as Folger fell to sixth, Simone muscled his way into the lead with a typically aggressive move at turn nine on the third lap, sitting Kallio up as he did so.
Mika chose not to get embroiled in a physical battle with the Italian at the front, biding his time until the nineteenth lap when he dived through on the inside at Dunlop. Simone’s best chance of victory now looked to be with an instant reply but the smoothness of Kallio ensured he was nailed in second.
Esteve Rabat piled on the pressure late on but Corsi did just enough to prevent a Marc VDS 1-2 while the Pons Kalex teammates did finish line astern, Maverick Vinales pipping Luis Salom to fourth. Jonas Folger rode impressively to keep on terms with the leading group but ultimately he was unable to do better than sixth with Dominique Aegerter beating fellow Swiss Thomas Luthi to finish best of the rest in seventh.
Sam Lowes took advantage of late misfortune for Julian Simon to finish ninth while Franco Morbidelli took a career-best tenth for the Italtrans squad.
