Moto2: Bradl wins as rivals crash in Catalunya
Stefan Bradl almost doubled his advantage at the head of the Moto2 World Championship with his third win of the season, in round five at Catalunya.
The race was punctuated by two big accidents for frontrunners, the first of which occurred on lap 6 of 23 and involved Thomas Luthi and last year's Catalunya winner Yuki Takahashi.
The incident began with a near mid-corner highside for Luthi, who then clung to the side of his machine, but was hit by Gresini's Takahashi, bringing them both down. Following riders just missed the pair as the slid down the track.
The second incident occurred when Kenan Sofuoglu tagged the rear wheel of second place Julian Simon on lap 16.
The contact flicked the Spaniard into a heavy highside and Sofuoglu also slammed into the ground after running into Simon as the Aspar rider bounced through the gravel.
Multiple WSS champion Sofuoglu was quick to apologise, but Simon was later diagnosed with a double fracture to his right leg.
Sofuoglu's Technomag team-mate Dominique Aegerter had also crashed out of the lead pack, moments before, leaving Bradl with a safe advantage over Le Mans winner Marc Marquez and fellow Spaniard Aleix Espargaro.
Marquez crossed the line 4.141sec behind Bradl, with former MotoGP rider Espargaro eight seconds adrift for his first Moto2 podium.
Bradl began the race 28 points ahead of Simon, and is now 43 in front of new nearest rival Corsi, who finished in fourth place for Ioda Racing (FTR).
Bradley Smith was lucky not be taken down in the Luthi/Takahashi clash, then speared straight on while battling inside the top ten on the last lap. Smith went on to finish 19th.
Race Results - Catalunya:
1. Bradl (Kalex) 23laps
2. Marquez (Suter) +4.141s
3. A. Espargaro (Pons Kalex) +8.409s
4. Corsi (FTR) +10.331s
5. Krummenacher ((Kalex) +11.661s
6. de Angelis (MotoBI) +12.383s
7. Rabat (FTR) +12.602s
8. Kallio (Suter) +13.467s
9. Y. Hernandez (FTR) +16.612s
10. Neukirchner (MZ) +16.735s
11. Redding (Suter) +17.031s
19. Smith (Tech 3) +29.249s
24. Coghlan (FTR) +1m 16.294s
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
