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australia phillip island race moto2 de angelis

Sunday, 16 October 2011

Alex de Angelis won the Iveco Australian Grand Prix for the second year running after a hard fought battle with Stefan Bradl, who regained the Championship lead with second place. Marc Márquez rode to a brilliant third place finish after starting from the back of the grid.

Following a windy and rainy morning, the Moto2 race began in sunny conditions on a dry track with the Championship leader Márquez (Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol) starting from the back of the grid when a one minute qualifying penalty was applied following his collision with Ratthapark Wilairot (Thai Honda Singha-SAG) at the end of the Friday’s first free practice session.

De Angelis, who led all three practice sessions and started on pole, took the early lead, with Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) assuming it at the end of lap one followed by Pol Espargaró (HP Tuenti Speed Up). Bradl assumed the lead on lap five, holding it until a final lap showdown with de Angelis which saw the Sammarinese come out on top to take his second victory of the season.

Márquez made up plenty of ground with an extraordinary start that launched the Spanish star to midfield from his 38th position on the grid. The Team CatalunyaCaixa Repsol rider steamed full speed ahead, making up ground until lap seventeen where, after passing Claudio Corti (Italtrans Racing) for third, the Italian fought back and the two duked it out to the finish, with the Spaniard making a move on the last lap to put him across the line third. His third place finished combined with the second place of Bradl rearranged the Championship standings, with the German retaking the lead by three points over Márquez.

Pol Espargaró (HP Tuenti Speed Up) was fifth after going shoulder to shoulder with for a lap, with Kenan Sofuoglu (Technomag-CIP) taking sixth followed by Scott Redding (Marc VDS Racing) in seventh and Andrea Iannone (Speed Master) in eighth. Front row starter Mike di Meglio (Tech 3 Racing) and Yuki Takahashi (Gresini Racing) rounded out the top ten.

Thomas Lüthi (Interwetten Paddock Moto2) dropped to 12th after a run in with Pol Espargaró, but made up a spot to finish 11th, ahead of Dominique Aegerter (Technomag-CIP) and Aleix Espargaró (Pons HP 40).

Bradley Smith (Tech 3 Racing), Jordi Torres (Mapfre Aspar), Anthony West (MZ Racing), Mattia Pasini (Ioda Racing Project), Esteve Rabat (Blusens-STX), Jules Cluzel (NGM Forward Racing) and Xavier Simeon (Tech 3 B) all had falls in the race.