DE ANGELIS TAKES FIRST MOTO2

By MICHAEL ESDAILE

SCOTT Redding took an early lead in the Moto2 race at Phillip Island with Mike De Meglio and Andrea Iannone in hot pursuit, and after three laps, Alex De Angelis had joined the front-running party.

A lap later Iannone had hit the front but Redding was more than ready to fight him for it while Di Meglio and De Angelis watched from close astern.

Iannone and Redding took turns at the front and De Angelis got past Di Meglio to be ready to pounce, which he did at MG Corner, diving down the inside of the Iannone to snatch second on lap seven while Di Meglio displaced Iannone for third.

Behind the leading quartet, Stefan Bradl, Julian Simon and Thomas Luthi were ahead of a pack led by Dominique Aegerter while newly crowned world champion Toni Elias was working his way forward from 11th.

Three laps later, Bradl had worked his way past Di Meglio for fourth and then as the race hit half distance De Angelis had displaced Redding from the lead and Iannone was still part of the tight trio out in front, positions changing lap after lap.

Di Meglio was going backwards, displaced to sixth by Simon, who also worked his way past Bradl.

With seven laps to go, De Angelis and Redding had got a small break over Iannone just as Elias emerged from the ruck to take seventh, 20 seconds behind them.

Four laps from the end and De Angelis had eeked out a lead of almost a second over Redding with Iannone a second and a half back in third, still well clear of the scrapping Simon and Bradl.

With three to go, De Angelis had made his intentions clear, opening the gap to 1.5 seconds with Redding now firmly in Iannone's sights once more.

Going into the last lap, De Angelis had stretched away to head Redding by 2.3 seconds and Iannone was another second behind.

In the end, De Angelis won his first Moto2 race by 2.1 seconds and was the seventh different winner in the class. No less than 18 different nationalities were represented in the race.

Part of his winning package was his decision to opt for the hard Dunlop rear tyre five minutes before the race started. Redding also used the hard rear but Iannone went with the soft rear Dunlop, which was why he was unable to counter-attack in the final laps.

The track temperature was 27 degrees, the warmest for the weekend so far.

For full results, click on: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/AUS/Moto2/RAC/Classification.pdf?v1_8f5ea4f9

Read more...

DE ANGELIS HEADS MOTO2 WARM-UP

POLE sitter for the Moto2 race at Phillip Island, Italian Alex De Angelis, was also fastest in Sunday morning's warm-up session on the JiR Motobi machine, recording a 1m 44.851s on a streaming wet track.

Australian Wayne Maxwell was second fastest in the wet warm-up session, having his first ride on the Matteoni Racing Moriwaki machine as a 'wild card.'

Maxwell had been 11th fastest in Saturday afternoon's dry qualifying session, saying he had to adapt his style to suit the bike - he could not ride it the way he wanted to.

Maxwell is the current Australian Superbike lap record holder at Phillip Island and has a lot of experience in that class.

Behind these two came Alex Debon and recently crowned Moto2 Champion Toni Elias.

For the full list of lap times from Moto2 warm-up, click on: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/AUS/Moto2/WUP/Classification.pdf?v1_74b98cdb

Read more...

DE ANGELIS POLE FOR MOTO2

ITALIAN Alex De Angelis starts from pole position for the Moto2 Grand Prix at Phillip Island on Sunday, October 17.

It is his first pole since he was qualified fastest for the 250cc class at the British Grand Prix at Donington in 2007.

De Angelis (JiR Motobi) has been consistently one of the fastest riders in the Moto2 class since the first practice session on Friday afternoon.

Although Englishman Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Suter) topped the time sheets on Saturday morning with a 1m 35.297s lap, De Angelis managed third fastest time, 1m 35.369, just behind Andrea Iannone's Fimmco Speed Up machine (1m 35.354s).

In that session, the track temperature was just 12 degrees.

However, in Saturday afternoon's qualifying, the lap times were not much faster, despite the track being 12 degrees warmer - at 24 degrees.

In this session, De Angelis topped the charts with a 1m 35.148s effort while Redding was next at 1m 35.378s - slightly slower than he'd been on a colder track in the morning!

It is the fourth time he has started from second place in the Moto2 class this year. Redding will be aiming to become the youngest ever rider to win an intermediate-class Grand Prix, to add to his record of being the youngest ever rider to win a 125cc GP race.

Stefan Bradl (Viessmann Kiefer Racing Suter) qualified third fastest at 1m 35.578s with Mike Di Meglio taking the final spot on the front row with 1m 35.696s.

Bradl's second place finish in the 125cc race at Phillip Island in 2008 is the last time he stood on a GP podium.

For the full Moto2 qualifying times, go to: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/AUS/Moto2/QP/Classification.pdf?v1_32f66c3a

Read more...

DE ANGELIS FASTEST

ITALIAN Alex De Angelis topped Moto2 practice at Phillip Island on Friday, October 15, with a lap time that was more than five seconds better than what Jorge Lorenzo managed in the earlier MotoGP practice session.

De Angelis stopped the clocks at 1m 36.295s on his JiR Moto2 Motobi machine, after his 26th of 27 laps, edging out Englishman Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing Team Suter).

The track was much drier than the MotoGP session, but the track temperature was just 13 degrees, while the air temperature was 12 degrees. The wind chill factor for the riders on motorcycles cracking through the speed trap at 266 km/h was considerable.

Read more...

MOTO2 FATALITY

JAPANESE rider Shoya Tomizawa died on Sunday, September 5 in Riccione Hospital from injuries sustained in the Moto2 race at Misano earlier in the day. The 19-year-old suffered a serious crash and subsequent cranial, thoracic and abdominal trauma.

Given the seriousness of his condition - especially for the thoracic and abdominal trauma - Tomizawa was immediately treated at the Misano World Circuit medical centre and put under artificial respiration. He was then taken by ambulance to the Riccione Hospital accompanied by two doctors - helicopter was not used in order to allow for the proper respiratory support to be administered. Despite various attempts to resuscitate him Shoya sadly succumbed to his injuries at 2.20 pm on Sunday, Italian time.

Everybody involved in MotoGP extends its deepest condolences to Shoya’s family and friends at this tragic loss.

Read more...

ELIAS AGAIN IN MOTO2!

SPANIARD Toni Elias kept his head, rode forcefully on his Gresini Racing Moriwaki, and scored his second win of the year in the new Moto2 class at Le Mans on Sunday. In the process he opened up an 18-point lead at the top of the Moto2 World Championship. He led home Julián Simón and Simone Corsi in a race that was extremely eventful in its opening stages.

Elías made a rapid start from seventh on the grid and took the early lead, but Alex Debón was soon in front. However, the Valencian rider was penalised for a jump-start and had to take a ride through penalty as he lost first position. Yuki Takahashi crashed out from fourth, and pole position man Kenny Noyes suffered the same disappointment in a crash-riddled race that saw many riders suffer front-end slides, and crashes.

At the head of the race Elías, Jules Cluzel and Simón established a break, but disaster struck the Frenchman Cluzel when he lost the front of his bike. Championship leader at the start of the race, Shoya Tomizawa ran off twice, first as the result of De Rosa’s crash which forced him wide, then of his own accord, bringing down Mattia Pasini too.

As Elías stretched out his lead and Simón shored up second, Andrea Iannone and Corsi scrapped for third behind, with the latter coming out on top to claim his first Moto2podium.

For the full list of results, click on the following link: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/FRA/Moto2/RAC/Classification.pdf?v1_41ee670d

Read more...

ELIAS AGAIN IN MOTO2!

SPANIARD Toni Elias kept his head, rode forcefully on his Gresini Racing Moriwaki, and scored his second win of the year in the new Moto2 class at Le Mans on Sunday. In the process he opened up an 18-point lead at the top of the Moto2 World Championship. He led home Julián Simón and Simone Corsi in a race that was extremely eventful in its opening stages.

Elías made a rapid start from seventh on the grid and took the early lead, but Alex Debón was soon in front. However, the Valencian rider was penalised for a jump-start and had to take a ride through penalty as he lost first position. Yuki Takahashi crashed out from fourth, and pole position man Kenny Noyes suffered the same disappointment in a crash-riddled race that saw many riders suffer front-end slides, and crashes.

At the head of the race Elías, Jules Cluzel and Simón established a break, but disaster struck the Frenchman Cluzel when he lost the front of his bike. Championship leader at the start of the race, Shoya Tomizawa ran off twice, first as the result of De Rosa’s crash which forced him wide, then of his own accord, bringing down Mattia Pasini too.

As Elías stretched out his lead and Simón shored up second, Andrea Iannone and Corsi scrapped for third behind, with the latter coming out on top to claim his first Moto2podium.

For the full list of results, click on the following link: http://resources.motogp.com/files/results/xx/2010/FRA/Moto2/RAC/Classification.pdf?v1_41ee670d

Read more...