Garage Plus Interwetten rider Thomas Luthi got an amazing start to the fifth round of the Moto 2 championship in Le Mans as he left the remaining riders to sort themselves out during the first lap behind him.
Luthi started from pole after his record breaking place made it too hard for anyone to catch him in qualifying. He led ahead of Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS rider Franco Morbidelli, Paginas Amarillas HP 40 rider Alex Rins, Speed Up racing team rider Simone Corsi.
In pursuit of them was Honda Team Asia rider Takaaki Nakagami who was ahead of Forward Team rider Lorenzo Baldassarri and Dominique Aegerter who had made a fantastic start from thirteenth on the grid. AGR Team rider Marcel Schrotter followed ahead of Dynavolt Intact GP rider Jonas Folger, who has just signed a deal to ride for MotoGP team Monster Tech 3 Yamaha next year, championship leader before the race Sam Lowes on his Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 Kalex and Frenchman Johann Zarco who was hoping to do well at his home race.
Aegerter was forced wide at the start by Folger who made a great start from the fifth row. Folger had crashed many times over the weekend despite having such a good pace. It was not long before another incident occurred again for the German, and at turn six of lap two, the front tucked in and sent him into the gravel trap.
Corsi looked strong and was on the move overtaking Nakagami and Morbidelli who Rins had just overtaken. Rins was in pursuit of Luthi and was trying his best to not allow the German extend his lead.
Further back there was a battle between Aegerter and Schrotter. Schrotter overtook after taking advantage of a slipstream and he tried to fight back but could not make it stick, soon Sam Lowes overtook Aegerter to gain eighth position. Sideways Sam now had Schrotter in his sights and was looking for a way past as the lead group were getting away; he soon got past and worked at catching up to the lead group.
It was not long before Rins got past Luthi to take the lead with twenty-two seconds remaining, however Rins ran wide and Luthi got past. This allowed Corsi, Morbidelli and Baldassarri to catch up. Baldassarri came into contact with the back of Morbidelli and had to sit up at turn twelve. Rins did not want to make things easy for Luthi and again he made his move diving up the inside of Luthi but went wide and Luthi who looked much neater went back through.
Again Rins got back past Luthi as they came over the hill at Le Mans, and Corsi was right behind stalking the two waiting for his opportunity to attack. As they crossed the line with nineteen laps to go, Corsi made his move after taking advantage of another slipstream. He had the inside line instead of Luthi and was able to make his move stick. Luthi soon became victim to Baldassarri who had slotted straight past as Luthi took an alternative line. Rins was able to break away and now had over half a second of a lead with 18 laps remaining. Julian Simon crashed at turn six of turn eight, fortunately, he was unhurt.
Sideways Sam was on his own chasing the lead pack ahead of a group of ten led by Schrotter and Zarco who were all looking for eighth place. Zarco soon got past as he could see Lowes getting away and immediately began to break away from the pack.
Things settled slightly however Petronas Raceline Malaysia rider Hafitzh Syharin and Leopard Racing Team rider Miguel Oliveira were battling on track with 14 laps remaining. At the same time, Luthi was applying pressure to Baldassarri. He made a few attempts but missed the apex and Baldassarri was able to claim his place straight back. Luthi was not going to settle for fourth and he was persistent trying to get third place back from the Italian, with ten laps remaining he seemed to make a strong enough move and looked to pull away, however Baldassarri did not give up.
With just three laps to go Alex Marquez crashed out at turn seven after he lost the front, he was OK but the bike was too damaged for him to return to the race. Syharin remained the man on the move as he got to eighth bringing his teammate Alex Pons through with him past Schrotter.
The pressure was soon off for Luthi as Baldassarri crashed out at turn three after he touched the kerb landed in the road on turn four; he remounted in an attempt to reclaim points. Soon after Zarco crashed out at turn fourteen on the 17th lap at his home GP. He and the bike were very scuffed as he got back in the hope of trying to claim some points.
Things were now settled among the leaders and it seemed that positions were confirmed. Nakagami was the man on the move in the final stages of the race as he was in pursuit of Morbidelli; he was slowly chipping away at the gap between them but was not able to catch him in the end. A mistake by Schrotter sent him back to 13th with three laps remaining.
It finished as Rins the winner at Le Mans with a lead of 1.5 seconds of Corsi in second and Luthi who claimed the last spot on the podium. Morbidelli finished in fourth ahead of Nakagami who was unable to catch him by the end of the race, and then British rider Lowes who had a lonely race was in sixth.
Pons had gotten past Syharin to claim seventh ahead of the Malaysian who finished in eighth ahead of Salom, rookie Oliveira, QMMF Racing Team rider Xavier Simeon and Forward Team rider Luca Marini in twelfth. Aegerter could only manage thirteenth after he was able to take another position from Schrotter who finished in fourteenth ahead of Tech 3 Racing team rider Xavi Vierge who claimed the last championship points and finished as the fastest Tech 3 bike.
British Leopard Racing team rider Danny Kent finished in 19th and Danny Eslick who is replacing Efren Vazquez on the only Suter in the race for JPMoto Malaysia completed the race but in 25th.
His win at Le Mans means that Rins has now claimed the top spot in the championship from Lowes who only claimed ten points; Lowes is five points behind Rins. Luthi currently sits third in the championship ahead of Zarco, Folger in fifth and Simone Corsi as the top Speed Up rider in sixth position.
