Franco Morbidelli extended his Moto2 world championship lead once again with a hard-fought victory in the Aragon Grand Prix. The Italian had to overcome a spirited Mattia Pasini to claim his eighth win of the season, moving him 21 points clear of Thomas Luthi heading into the final four races of the campaign.
With polesitter Miguel Oliveira dropping back early on and Alex Marquez forced to pull out midway through due to his recent injuries, Morbidelli and Pasini were left to fight out their own personal duel at the front and Pasini would have been forgiven for thinking he had won it after edging ahead of his compatriot on the final lap.
Morbidelli would have other ideas though and demonstrated his championship credentials in spectacular style, barging Pasini aside in the middle of the Corkscrew section to take a lead he wouldn’t relinquish on the long drag race to the final corner. Pasini had to settle for second and although the lead battle brought Oliveira back within range, the KTM rider fell half a second short of catching the Italian pair in third.
Luthi also found a KTM breathing down his neck in the closing stages but the Swiss rider held off the impressive Brad Binder for fourth. Binder’s fifth place did equal the South African’s career best in the intermediate class while Jorge Navarro also equalled his best result as a Moto2 rider, taking sixth for Gresini.
Simone Corsi was seventh aboard the Speed Up ahead of Takaaki Nakagami and the leading Suter of Sandro Cortese with Francesco Bagnaia tenth for Sky VR46.
Moto2 Gran Premio Movistar de Aragon – Race Result
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