Bradl triumphs in thrilling Moto2 Estoril race

Stefan Bradl’s first podium result in the Moto2 class was a hard fought victory on Sunday as the Viessmann Kiefer Racing rider won from the third row of the starting grid, in a thoroughly engrossing bwin Grande Premio de Portugal at Estoril.

Bradl, whose last World Championship race win came at Motegi in the 125cc class in 2008, powered through to take victory ahead of Alex Baldolini by a margin of just 0.068s after the duo had battled closely in the final stages of the race. It was a contest that was ridden on a track that dried rapidly throughout the course of the race as the Moto2 field opted to set off on slick tyres, having ridden predominantly on wets in the practice sessions.

For Caretta Technology Race Dept rider Baldolini second place signified the first World Championship podium of his career in his 143rd Grand Prix start, after he had led the race for a period. The Italian had also started from the third row alongside Bradl after the grid had been decided on the combined practice session times following the cancellation of qualifying due to Saturday’s poor weather.

At just over 2.7s further back another fantastic battle played out behind the duo and it was Alex de Angelis who took third place. For the JiR Moto2 rider it was his third successive top-three result and came after a hard fight with a host of others for the coveted final podium step.

The closeness of that fight was represented by the fact that Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) finished just 0.012s behind De Angelis, having rocketed up from 24th on the starting grid. Special mention must also go to Turkish rider Kenan Sofuoglu (Technomag-CIP) who on his GP debut led the race by a margin of over six seconds at one stage, before being reeled back in by Bradl and eventually finishing fifth as he rode on his Suter in dry conditions for the very first time.

Completing the top ten were Raffaele De Rosa (Tech 3 Racing), Anthony West (MZ Racing) – both with a season’s best results – pole man Gabor Talmacsi (Fimmco Speed Up), Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) and Karel Abraham (Cardion AB Motoracing).

The battle for second spot in the Championship will go down to the final race in Valencia after Julián Simón (Mapfre Aspar) finished 12th and Andrea Iannone (Fimmco Speed Up) 21st to leave the Spaniard with a six-point advantage over his Italian rival, who crashed when in fourth position having risen from 34th on the grid.

Carmelo Morales (Racing Team Germany) crashed when riding in fifth and eventually placed 20th, whilst already-crowned Moto2 World Champion Toni Elías (Gresini Racing) failed to finish a race for the first time this season after crashing with 11 laps to go when running in eighth position. Yonny Hernández (Blusens-STX) placed 18th having been involved at the front early on when a crash set him back.