Moto2: Quartararo in the clear for first win
An elated Fabio Quartararo converted his first pole position into his first ever win since joining the world championship after catching and pulling away from Miguel Oliveira in the Moto2 Catalan Grand Prix.
Round seven saw Alex Marquez get the best start but the consistent pace the Frenchman showed in qualifying saw him rise to the front and then pull out a lead, which stood at 2.492s at the finish.
The nineteen year old brings Speed Up their eighth win with Quartararo himself becoming the second youngest rider to win a Moto2 race (behind Marc Marquez)and youngest ever French rider to win an intermediate class race.
Miguel Oliveira had hit the front , recovering extremely well and quickly after a poor qualifying left him 17th on the grid, his weaving start pulled him up to fifth on lap one as he picked off his rivals, he kept the chase up until the end for a superb second on his Red Bull KTM Ajo - cutting the championship lead Francesco Bagnaia holds over him to just one point.
The Portuguese rider also saw drama after the flag as when waving on his warm down lap he was collected by Simone Corsi from behind at speed.
Alex Marquez won from pole at Montmelo last year but saw his early lead vanish after being passed by the pair and then had to contend with the Dynavolt Intact GP duo of Xavi Vierge and Marcel Schrotter chasing him down on the final lap.
The EG 0,0 Marc VDS man managed to hold on to third , the top Kalex man , to keep him in championship contention where he is up to third overall, one point ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri.
Schrotter was the better finisher of the team-mates taking fourth and Vierge next over the line in fifth.
Brad Binder finished sixth on the second Bed Bull KTM entry while Pons HP40 rider Baldassarri passed Bagnaia late in the race to claim seventh, leaving the championship leader a disappointing eighth for Sky Racing VR46.
Sam Lowes had drama to contend with before the race had even started, with the Swiss Innovative Investors mechanics frantically trying to fix an issue with his fuel pump leaving him unable to start the bike.
They fixed the bike but Lowes was forced to start from the back of the grid. The Brition immediately made up places and fought his way all the way to an impressive ninth by the time he saw the chequered flag, running at the same pace as the podium finishers at the close.
Tenth went to Lowes’ team-mate Iker Lecuona, who continues his upturn in form with his third finish inside the top ten this year.
Italtrans rider Andrea Locatelli was right behind in a tight run to the line in eleventh, with Corsi (Tasca Racing) twelfth, saving his crash until after the race.
Idemitsu’s Tetsuta Nagashima finished 13th, equalling his best result so far this season, Augusto Fernandez finished his first race replacing Hector Barbera at Pons in 14th with Remy Gardner (Tech 3 Racing) finishing his first race back after his double leg break back in the points in 15th.
Wild-card entry Edgar Pons on the AGR Team entry was 16th on his return to the class. Dimas Ekky Pratma (Astra Honda Racing) fared less well in 24th.
Kent, whose team-mate won the race, finished 21st just ahead of the best rookie finisher Joe Roberts on the NTS RW Racing machine.
A first lap collision saw Stefano Manzi, Niki Tuuli and Bo Bendsneyder all exit the race.
Jorge Navarro finished a weekend to forget with another off at turn one with fifteen laps remaining.
Romano Fenati was next to exit, crashing out with eleven laps left to run, fellow rookie Joan Mir only lasted two laps longer, smashing his bike up in the gravel at turn fourteen.
Mattia Pasini followed soon after catapulting his bike across the gravel at turn four.
Federico Fuligni pitted while Isaac Vinales also failed to go the distance.
