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Jerez 2010 - Moto2 - Race - highlights

Sunday, 2 May 2010

After the original Moto2 race at Jerez was red flagged due to a big crash on the opening lap, Toni Elías won a condensed, action-packed 17-lap contest ahead of Shoya Tomizawa and Thomas Lüthi.

An eventful Moto2 race at the Gran Premio bwin de España saw Toni Elías (Gresini Racing Moto2) take first spot on the podium at Jerez, coming out on top in a shortened 17-lap contest after a pile-up in the opening lap of the original race.

A coming together between Simone Corsi (JiR Moto2) and Shoya Tomizawa (Technomag-CIP) saw the Japanese rider slide out at Dry Sack, and as many as nine riders then hit the asphalt as a mass pile up led to the red flag being brought out. Thanks to some frantic work in Pit Lane from the teams involved the race re-started half an hour later.

The start was rapid and Karel Abraham (Cardion AB), Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) and Joan Olivè (Jack-Jones by Antonio Banderas) were all the victims of falls inside the opening laps.

The early order saw a host of riders jostling for position, and on lap four Kenny Noyes (Jack&Jones by Antonio Banderas), who started from ninth on the grid, pushed through on Elías and Tomizawa to take the lead – one which changed hands many times. Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Moriwaki Racing) also started to climb, with Yuki Takahashi (Tech3 Racing) also well in the mix in what was becoming a superbly competitive race. With six laps to go there were still up to nine riders in with a chance of taking victory.

Overtaking moves were not in short supply as the frontrunners constantly pushed one another, and as the final laps approached the closeness did not stretch, with less than half a second separating Elías, Tomizawa, Lüthi and Takahashi going into the final lap.

To the delight of the Spanish crowd it was Elías who pulled off a double overtake to take the chequered flag, 0.190s ahead of Tomizawa who maintains his Championship lead with his podium finish, with the Spaniard second after two races. Lüthi, at a further seven-thousandths behind completed the top three in a fantastic grandstand finish, as he moved into third place in the overall standings.

Takahashi and Corsi both finished inside the top five, with Sergio Gadea (Tenerife 40 Pons), Noyes, Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar), Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up), and Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX) completing the top ten. British rider Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) just missed out on the points as he finished 16th.