Lorenzo Baldassarri claimed his maiden Grand Prix victory in dramatic fashion after seeing off Alex Rins in the closing stages of the San Marino GP at Misano. The Italian defeated the championship challenger in a head-to-head scrap to become Moto2’s seventh different winner of the season while Rins’ second place moved him to within three points of series leader Johann Zarco.
Baldassarri signalled his intentions from the start with an aggressive move on Zarco at turn three on the fourth lap and the reigning champion appeared to be knocked out of his rhythm as a pack of riders relegated him to seventh. Rins had ghosted through into the lead while the battle raged behind and with a lead approaching two seconds, the Spaniard looked set for victory.
Urged on by the home crowd, Baldassarri gave chase and with two laps to go, the Forward Racing rider dived up the inside of Rins into Quercia. Alex tried everything to strike back on the final lap but with Zarco struggling further back, the Spaniard was content to take the twenty points on offer for second, as Baldassarri took an emotional victory on the day his team paid tribute to the victims of the 9/11 tragedy fifteen years on.
Sam Lowes was in the thick of the action and looked in position to claim the final podium position before crashing out at turn fifteen. Takaaki Nakagami was the chief beneficiary, finishing third ahead of Zarco who recovered ground to beat Franco Morbidelli and Thomas Luthi to fourth.
Hafizh Syahrin finished seventh ahead of the Dynavolt teammates Jonas Folger and Sandro Cortese while Alex Marquez rounded out the top ten.
Moto2 GP TIM Di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini (Race Result)
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