Marc Marquez held off a charging Stefan Bradl and Bradley Smith to win a thrilling Moto2 race on their Honda-powered machines in the brilliant Mugello sunshine.
The Catalunya Caixa Repsol rider shot into the lead from the start, Smith going with him as Bradl made his way through the field after starting seventh on the grid. The German was in third by the second lap.
Then followed a battle among the lead three, who would soon be joined by Alex de Angelis and Speed Master's Andrea Iannone to make up a leading quintet.
Bradl took the lead on the eighth lap by going up the inside of Marquez in the first turn starting the eighth lap. His reign would last three laps before Marquez made a similar pass to re-claim the place starting lap 11. All the while the positions of the top five were in a state of constant flux, with very little advantage going to any of the leaders.
Marquez led the way until the 17th lap when he made a mistake in San Donato, the looping first turn right. Bradl snuck underneath to lead again, but only for a lap before Marquez again drafted by on the brakes into turn one.
With three laps to go the top three seemed to be getting away as de Angelis got a second wind and passed Iannone, whose was slowing dramatically.
Smith made his way past Marquez in the final left-hander heading onto the front straight, but Marquez sped past just as they crossed the line, Bradl was third.
Starting the final lap Marquez led with Bradl up the inside of Smith to take over second. The order didn't change for the rest of the lap, with Bradl waiting for the run to the flag to make his move. But Marquez knew this and used his speed advantage to power across the stripe for his second Moto2 win in a row, and second win in a row here in Mugello.
"It was a very tough race," Marquez said. "At the beginning, with a full tank, it was difficult to set a good pace, but afterwards we were able to recover the confidence we had in the practice sessions and that helped a lot. I thought that it would be a race between (Stefan) Bradl and me and that if we set a pace of 1 minute 53 seconds we would be able to take some advantage over the rest. It did not happen that way, we rode in '54 and Bradley (Smith), who took a step ahead from the practice, was also with us.
"When I saw that (Alex) De Angelis was also there, I decided to push a little to try and make the group smaller for the end of the race. It was not to be, but I was able to do a very good lap in the end, my best lap in all the race. I am very happy for me, for my team and for Suter, because to achieve such a hard-fought victory always makes you feel very proud," the Spaniard concluded.
Bradl continues to lead the championship with 147 points to 95 for Marquez and 79 for Smith.
"Yeah, for sure to be back on the podium is perfect for me," Bradl said. "The qualifying we had some problems; I think everybody knows but we don't talk about it any more. No, I'm happy, because I did a good start. The first lap was a bit crazy. I thought from the beginning I had the speed, but these guys in front were pushing very hard and anyway I tried to catch (Marc) Marquez, but he was very fast and out of the last corner I had no chance. So I'm happy with this second place and thanks to my team because we are doing a great job," The Viessman Kiefer Racing rider concluded.
For Tech 3 Racing's Bradley Smith to podium was a great relief.
"It just silences all of our problems. I've got to say a big thanks to the man that modified my chassis between Assen and here because that was definitely an awesome job by him, it definitely gave us a big step," Smith said.
"Also got to say a big thanks to Clinica Mobile, because been struggling a lot throughout the season with a few problems with my arms and they definitely helped me get through the race today. As for the race, it was just awesome to be able to run with Stefan (Bradl) and Marc (Marquez) , who's always been a class ahead of everyone.
"To run with the Kalex and Suter with my Tech 3 bike was awesome. I tried my best. I tried to get up underneath Marc to give myself the best possible chance and we were running at a fast pace on that last lap, but just couldn't quite get back to them. So big thanks to my team again, because without them none of this would've been possible. They've created an environment for me that I can just go out, race as hard as I can. Last three podiums in a row is definitely proof of that, so big thanks to them and I look forward to going to Sachsenring."
The teams now have a free weekend before for the ninth round of the MotoGP World Championship at the Sachsenring in Germany on July 22-23.
Moto2 - Round 8 - Race 1
1 Marc Marquez 40m02.941s ESP HONDA Catalunya Caixa Repsol
2 Stefan Bradl +0.071s GER HONDA Viessman Kiefer Racing
3 Bradley Smith +0.419s GBR HONDA Tech 3 Racing
4 Alex De Angelis +2.091s SMR HONDA JiR Moto2
5 Andrea Iannone +4.595s ITA HONDA Speed Master
6 Thomas Luthi +13.021s SWI HONDA Interwetten Paddock M2 Racing
7 Simone Corsi +13.092s ITA HONDA Ioda Racing Project
8 Max Neukirchner +13.409s GER HONDA MZ Racing
9 Aleix Espargaro +14.139s ESP HONDA Pons Racing
10 Kenan Sofuoglu +14.419s TUR HONDA Technomag-CIP
11 Dominique Aegerter +15.072s SWI HONDA Technomag-CIP
12 Xavier Simeon +17.996s GER HONDA RTL Sport
13 Randy Krummenacher +18.573s SWI HONDA GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing
14 Yuki Takahashi +19.720s JAP HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
15 Jules Cluzel +20.357s FRA HONDA Forward Racing
16 Esteve Rabat +22.208s ESP HONDA Blusens-STX
17 Mika Kallio +22.420s FIN HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
18 Valentin Debise +24.297s FRA HONDA Speed Up
19 Jordi Torres +28.679 SPA HONDA Mapfre Aspar Team
20 Mattia Pasini +28.876s ITA HONDA Ioda Racing Project
21 Anthony West +30.778s AUS HONDA MZ Racing
22 Ricard Cardus +33.084s SPA HONDA QMMF Racing Team
23 Claudio Corti +34.568s ITA HONDA Italtrans Racing Team
24 Mike De Meglio +36.000s FRA HONDA Tech 3 Racing
25 Carmelo Morales +36.194s ESP HONDA G22 Racing Team
26 Robertino Pietri +36.195s VEN HONDA Italtrans Racing Team
27 Scott Redding +46.731s GBR HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
28 Pol Espargaro +49.054s ESP HONDA HP Tuenti Speed Up
29 Kenny Noyes +50.101s USA HONDA Avintia-STX
30 Santiago Hernandez +1m08.557s COL HONDA Thai Honda PTT Singha-SAG
31 Mashel Al Naimi +1 Lap QAT HONDA QMMF Racing Team
32 Ratthapark Wilairot DNF - 7 Laps THA HONDA Thai Honda PTT Singha-SAG
33 Alex Baldolini DNF - 10 Laps ITA HONDA Forward Racing
35 Yonny Hernandez DNF - 14 Laps COL HONDA Blusens-STX
37 Michele Pirro DNF - 18 Laps ITA HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
38 Raffaele De Rosa DNF ITA HONDA G22 Racing Team
Moto 2 Championship standings
1 Stefan Bradl 147 pts GER HONDA Viessman Kiefer Racing
2 Marc Marquez 95 pts ESP HONDA Catalunya Caixa Repsol
3 Bradley Smith 79 pts GBR HONDA Tech 3 Racing
4 Simone Corsi 76 pts ITA HONDA Ioda Racing Project
5 Thomas Luthi 66 pts SWI HONDA Interwetten Paddock M2 Racing
6 Alex De Angelis 66 pts SMR HONDA JiR Moto2
7 Andrea Iannone 64 pts ITA HONDA Speed Master
8 Yuki Takahashi 58 pts JAP HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
9 Julian Simon 49 pts SPA HONDA Mapfre Aspar Team
10 Randy Krummenacher 39 pts SWI HONDA GP Team Switzerland Kiefer Racing
11 Aleix Espargaro 38 pts ESP HONDA Pons Racing
12 Michele Pirro 37 pts ITA HONDA Gresini Racing Moto2
13 Esteve Rabat 37 pts ESP HONDA Blusens-STX
14 Kenan Sofuoglu 34 pts TUR HONDA Technomag-CIP
15 Max Neukirchner 32 pts GER HONDA MZ Racing
16 Dominique Aegerter 29 pts SWI HONDA Technomag-CIP
17 Jules Cluzel 28 pts FRA HONDA Forward Racing
18 Yonny Hernandez 23 pts COL HONDA Blusens-STX
19 Anthony West 18 pts AUS HONDA MZ Racing
20 Alex Baldolini 18 pts ITA HONDA Forward Racing
21 Scott Redding 16 pts GBR HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
22 Pol Espargaro 13 pts ESP HONDA HP Tuenti Speed Up
23 Mattia Pasini 13 pts ITA HONDA Ioda Racing Project
24 Kev Coghlan 11 pts GBR HONDA Motorsport 69
25 Mika Kallio 8 pts FIN HONDA Marc VDS Racing Team
26 Mike De Meglio 7 pts FRA HONDA Tech 3 Racing
27 Xavier Simeon 6 pts GER HONDA RTL Sport
28 Claudio Corti 6 pts ITA HONDA Italtrans Racing Team
29 Ratthapark Wilairot 4 pts THA HONDA Thai Honda PTT Singha-SAG
30 Ricard Cardus 2 pts SPA HONDA QMMF Racing Team
31 Axel Pons 1 pts SPA HONDA Pons Racing
32 Valentin Debise 0 pts FRA HONDA Speed Up
33 Steven Odendaal 0 pts RSA HONDA MS Racing
34 Santiago Hernandez 0 pts COL HONDA Thai Honda PTT Singha-SAG
35 Robertino Pietri 0 pts VEN HONDA Italtrans Racing Team
36 Raffaele De Rosa 0 pts ITA HONDA G22 Racing Team
37 Nasser Hasan Al Malki 0 pts QAT HONDA QMMF Racing Team
38 Mashel Al Naimi 0 pts QAT HONDA QMMF Racing Team
39 Kenny Noyes 0 pts USA HONDA Avintia-STX
40 Jordi Torres 0 pts SPA HONDA Mapfre Aspar Team
41 Javier Fores 0 pts SPA HONDA Mapfre Aspar Team
42 Carmelo Morales 0 pts ESP HONDA G22 Racing Team
43 Alexander Cudlin 0 pts AUS HONDA QMMF Racing Team
