Franco Morbidelli continued his perfect start to the 2017 Moto2 season with a comfortable victory in the Grand Prix of the Americas. The Italian proved too strong for title rival Thomas Luthi as he claimed his third win out of three, the first time this has been done in the intermediate class since 2001.
In the early stages, the battle for victory looked to be between the three riders who had qualified on the front row but Mattia Pasini’s exciting would come to a halt on lap seven, losing the front end of his Italtrans Kalex at turn one. Alex Marquez would keep up the pressure on his team-mate but once he slid wide on lap thirteen, dropping to fourth, his hopes of victory disappeared.
Luthi inherited second from the Spaniard but despite a series of consistent laps, the Swiss rider couldn’t make an impression on the one-second lead of Morbidelli, eventually giving best to the championship leader. Takaaki Nakagami would claim the final rostrum position following Marquez’s error while Dominique Aegerter impressed aboard the Kiefer Suter, taking fifth.
Miguel Oliveira made the top six again for KTM after holding off Simone Corsi on the leading Speed Up and Marcel Schrotter’s Suter while Xavi Vierge produced another stand-out display for Tech 3, finishing ninth ahead of Luca Marini.
Moto2 Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas: Race Result
[table id=1913 /]
