Andrea Iannone stormed to a brilliant victory in the Moto2 race in Italy overnight, bringing the home crowd to its feet as he stole the lead from Pol Espargaro at the start of the final lap. The Italian took his second victory of the year.
Thomas Luthi finished third, less than a second back and just 0.128s ahead of Bradley Smith. Championship leader Marc Marquez came home in fifth spot, his first finish off the podium this year, but the Spaniard still holds a comfortable lead in the thrilling Honda-powered series, 34 points ahead of Espargaro and Iannone, who are now tied on points.
It was a typically hard-fought Moto2 race, with some breathtaking passes and some fascinating slipstreaming battles on Mugello‰Ûªs long main straight.
Marquez was the early leader, then Luthi went ahead and then Takaaki Nakagami, the Japanese rider having his best in a while. But being in front meant little at this stage, with up to a dozen riders breathing down the leader‰Ûªs neck.
Espargaro made it to the front for the first time on lap 14 of 21 after tangling with Luthi in the first esses. A lap later Marquez‰Ûªs challenge went awry when he nearly lost it at the same spot. After that he decided to score points, rather than risk a crash.
Espargaro was in astonishing form over the next few laps, building a 1.3s lead in just two laps. But local hero Iannone had the Spaniard in his sights and remorselessly closed the gap. Espargaro was also suffering from the right ankle injury he sustained yesterday when he was taken out by another rider.
Iannone dived inside Espargaro at turn one on the final lap, while Luthi ran wide and lost crucial metres on the leaders, which nearly took him back into the clutches of Smith, leaving Iannone to win.
‰ÛÏThis is a fantastic, amazing feeling; it is so satisfying to be on top." said Iannone. It was so difficult out there and I hope I gave something good to all the fans today."
"It was a hard battle. When Pol made a gap I was a little worried, but I never gave up. I kept fighting all the way and I made it in the end.‰Û
