Márquez wins a nail-biting Moto2 race at Estoril

An intense Moto2 race that, as always, did not disappoint anyone. Throughout the race we saw the three riders who finished on the podium overtaking and re-overtaking each other all over the track. It was a tough battle in which none of them gave up until the very end.

At the start, Marc got off to a very good launch, making use of his pole position, and a lively group formed with Márquez, Luthi, Espargaró and Zarco, leaving behind a relentless Iannone fighting with riders not usually seen at those positions, such as Elías, Redding, Simón, Rabat or Aegerter.

Halfway through the race we saw how Luthi had the better pace, and he even broke away with almost a second over the three chasers. This allowed Iannone to catch up, pulling the whole chasing group along, and for a couple of laps we saw around 15 riders in one big multicolored snake.

But all of that changed as soon as Márquez decided he had waited long enough. He took Pol with him and they went after the Swiss rider. Within two laps, the two Spaniards not only passed Luthi but left him behind. Meanwhile, Zarco fell off the pace and the Italian Iannone made a mistake that nearly sent him to the ground.

And approaching the last lap, the final battle. Pol on the inside, Marc hits back with a pass, they touch fairing to fairing, and arriving at the chicane, Pol was close to going down after entering far too deep and nearly took Márquez out with him. In the end he managed to recover and not lose second place to Luthi, who ultimately finished third.

Behind Márquez, Espargaró and Luthi came Zarco, Iannone and De Angelis. Toni Elías finished seventh, with Julián Simón right behind. Cardús scored points by finishing 15th. Nico Terol was left on the edge of the points after finishing 16th. Ángel Rodríguez 22nd, Tito Rabat, despite crashing, was 24th and Elena Rosell 26th. Axel Pons also crashed in the chicane and decided not to return to the track.

Statements from Marc Márquez:

It was a very hard-fought last lap. Pol closes the gaps very well because he brakes very late. This is a circuit I love and I am very happy with this victory. I am the championship leader, and the most important thing now is to be consistent, since the championship is very long.

Statements from Pol Espargaró:

It was a very enjoyable race and I had a great time. I was riding very comfortably behind Marc and was studying the areas where I could pass him. I knew it wasn’t possible on the straight because he was very fast there. We fought until the end and it wasn’t meant to be. We lost this battle.

Statements from Thomas Luthi:

I pushed hard from the start but in the end I ran out of tyre to keep up in the final battle. With Pol’s error on the last lap I came close to catching him, but in the end it wasn’t possible.§h66§

Photos | motogp.com