Moto2 Mugello: Back-to-back wins for dominant Marquez

Alex Marquez took a handful of laps to hit the front but once there he pulled away as he dominated the Italian Moto2 Grand Prix in style.

The EG 0,0 Marc VDS rider eased out a gap of over 2 seconds which he then maintained, still leading by 1.9s as he arrived at the chequered flag first for the second race in a row.

Luca Marini, who had dominated Friday’s sessions, re-found his form for Sky Racing VR46, starting from sixth on the grid he fought his way to the podium, with second guaranteed after a slick move under Tom Luthi.

The Swiss rider; who got the best start off the line and lead the early laps of the race; may have had to give best to Marini, but he absorbed the pressure from the rapidly approaching Lorenzo Baldassarri despite feeling under the weather to secure third for the Dynavolt Intact GP Team, completing an all Kalex podium.

Baldassarri was forced to settle for fourth, but it was a good result after qualifying down in 15th for Flexbox HP40. It also enabled him to hold on to his championship lead, though it is cut to just a two point advantage - he has 88, while Marquez’s double sees him advance to a total of 86. Luthi remains in touch on 84.

The battle for fifth lit up the closing stages of the race with Augusto Fernandez following his team-mate over the line after passing Jorge Navarro behind Enea Bastianini, before then taking the Italian too on the final lap.

Bastianini (Italtrans) was the top rookie finisher in sixth, while Navarro was the top non-Kalex finisher for Speed Up in seventh.

Pole man Marcel Schrotter is still feeling the effects of his recent training injury, which seemed to take it’s toll over race distance, while being more manageable in qualifying, he faded to eighth on the second Dynavolt entry.

Sam Lowes was a quiet ninth for Gresini at their home round, but a solid error free result should bolster him after his disastrous weekend in Le Mans.

Fabio Di Giannantonio made sure both the MB Conveyors Speed Up bikes made the top ten, completing a great race for the manufacturer.

Mattia Pasini is back to replace Khairul Idham Pawi again at Petronas Sprinta Racing, he finished a commendable eleventh.

Xavi Vierge was next to see the chequered flag, taking twelfth on the second EG 0,0 Marc VDS entry.

Remy Gardner (ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team) was 13th, his team-mate Tetsuta Nagashima 14th, while Brad Binder (Red Bull Ajo) was the best of the KTM riders in a lowly 15th as they continue to struggle to be competitive this season.

Dominique Aegerter did what he could to push the MV Augusta to 17th, but could not bridge the gap to the points places.

The unlucky Iker Lecuona suffered after his poor qualifying left him down on row eight - the Spaniard got clipped in the lap one chaos and was the first rider to exit.

Teppei Nagoe (replacing Somikat Chantra at Idemitsu Team Honda) didn’t last much longer, while Stefano Manzi, Nicolo Bulega and Simone Corsi all crashed in separate incidents with fourteen laps remaining.

Jake Dixon was the final faller, while Joe Roberts retired to the pits.