Moto2 Valencia: Oliveira dominates to win after Marquez fall
Miguel Oliveira inherited the lead and never looked back as he took victory in the Moto2 Valencia Grand Prix, the final round of the championship.
The Red Bull KTM Ajo rider gave the team a victory in both of the support classes after pushing long-term leader Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) all the way and was then able to inherit the lead after a small mistake saw the Spaniard hit the gravel.
The Portuguese rider kept up the lead pace and crossed the line with a 13 second lead over the rest of the pack to bow out of Moto2 in style.
Oliveria’s win means there has not been a single Spanish winner in Moto2 this season.
It also ensures Red Bull KTM Ajo win the new team competition this year, with Oliviera wearing a t-shirt in celebration of the team's success.
Iker Lecuona (Swiss Innovative Investors), who dominated in the wet on Friday on his KTM again shone on the damp track. After qualifying down in 21st during the only dry session he quickly rose to the lead group and rode a confident, sensible race in the tricky conditions to finish second, taking his best ever finish with podium at his local track.
Alex Marquez managed the amazing feat of still standing on the rostrum after his fall, the gap to fourth was enough to allow him to remount his Kalex for third.
Mattia Pasini, still without a ride for 2019, briefly lead on the Italtrans in the early stages on his way to fourth.
Remy Gardner also took advantage of his ability in the wet to place fifth in Cheste, he climbed from 17th on the grid on the Tech 3 for his best ever finish.
Fabio Quartararo had issues on the grid and was forced into starting from pitlane. The HDR Heidrun Speed Up rider fought all the way up to sixth by the chequered flag after a fierce battle with Gardner, which saw the Australian get his elbows out for a strong pass.
The battle for seventh was just as tough with Marcel Schrotter (Dynavolt IntactGP) winning at the line after holding off Augusto Fernandez (Pons HP 40).
Andrea Locatelli climbed to ninth on the second Italtrans entry and Simone Corsi (Tasca Racing Scuderia) used his experience to complete the top ten, with one of his strongest rides of the season.
Dominique Aegerter made up thirteen places from his grid position to claim eleventh with Kiefer Racing. Tetsuta Nagashima (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) avoided the falling Jorge Navarro to stay in contention and take twelfth.
Steven Odendaal (NTS RW Racing GP) was in the points for the first time since Mugello in 13th, and Jesko Raffin (the long-term replacement for Alejandro Medina this season at SAG Team) took the final point in 15th .
Crossing the line between them was the Moto2 world champion Francesco Bagnaia. ‘Pecco’ was given the chance to run his winning black and gold livery by his Sky Racing VR46 team and took his bike over to celebrate with his fans after bringing it home safely in a race peppered with crashes.
His team-mate; pole man Luca Marini, was the first to exit at just turn two. He was swiftly followed by Joan Mir who collected an unlucky Lorenzo Baldassarri as they all ended up sat in the gravel at the same corner. Mir had already done enough to be named rookie of the year.
Xavi Cardelus, Khairul Idham Pawi, Sam Lowes and Jules Danilo were next to exit, shortly before Brad Binder slid out at turn twelve.
Tommaso Marcon was next to tumble form the second Speed Up bike shortly before Joe Roberts had his off.
Xavi Vierge was a big late casualty, he was running third for Dynavolt when the front folded under him at turn eight with 14 laps remaining.
Niki Tuuli was the final faller after climbing from 25th to 5th. As with Moto3, only twenty riders saw the chequered flag.
