Mika Kallio led from start to finish to claim his first victory of the 2014 Moto2 season at Jerez. The Finn reigned supreme in qualifying and was similarly dominant in the Grand Prix itself, comfortably seeing off the challenge of Dominique Aegerter while Jonas Folger completed the podium on another impressive afternoon for the class rookies.
Once he had aced the start, beating Aegerter into turn one, Kallio was always going to end up the winner and eased into a lead of just over a second. Occasionally, Aegerter would build up a head of steam and make inroads into the gap but Kallio always had an answer, his Marc VDS team keeping him concentrated by showing a smaller lead on his pit board than he actually enjoyed. Behind Aegerter, Jonas Folger rode a lonely race for third but that shouldn’t divert attention from a sensational performance for the German in his fourth Moto2 race, handing the AGR team their first ever podium.
Esteve Rabat’s season has barely had a blip so far but the Spaniard suffered in the heat at Jerez. Having felt unwell in the build-up to the race, Rabat’s mood wasn’t helped by a poor start which dropped him to eighth but he made steady progress in the opening laps, working his way past Luis Salom on lap eight and subsequently finishing fourth to take a sixteen point lead away to Le Mans.
Salom was later embroiled in a scrap with former Moto3 rival and current teammate Maverick Vinales and just as the title went Maverick’s way last autumn, the younger Spaniard would prevail again here in their fight for fifth. Xavier Simeon was seventh ahead of Johann Zarco, the Frenchman scoring his and Caterham’s first points of the season, while Sandro Cortese and Thomas Luthi faded after terrific qualifying performances to finish ninth and tenth.
The race promised much for Sam Lowes after a strong start moved him to the fringe of the top ten but two separate crashes put paid to any hopes the Briton had of points.
