Off went the lights and off went Johann Zarco (Ajo Motorsport), grabbing the lead of the Moto2™ World Championship race into the first corner. His lead wouldn’t last as the likes of Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) and Alex Rins (Paginas Amarillas HP 40) got past him on the opening lap. During the early stages of the race it seemed as though Zarco would be unable to even finish on the podium, but as the race went on his pace improved. A number of crashes ahead also helped, the French rider staying calm and most importantly staying upright. Before long both Franco Morbidelli (Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS) and Alex Rins had crashed out and Zarco was in the lead.
He had to push right till the end, Jonas Folger (Dynavolt Intact GP) out for home glory with a bold move in the final corner. Zarco focused on his exit from the corner to beat Folger to the line by 0.059s. With Rins crashing out, Zarco takes a 25-point lead in the Moto2™ World Championship as they enter the mid-season break. His championship challenge was further aided by the crashes of Sam Lowes (Federal Oil Gresini Moto2), who is now 30 points behind Zarco. There’s still a long way to go in the season, but Zarco is in prime position to defend his crown before moving to MotoGP™.
Johann Zarco: “I'm very happy. It was a very difficult race, especially riding in the rain. Normally the track dries out as the laps go by, but today it was raining for most of the race, the track was completely wet and that made it very easy to crash. I saw that my pace was good and I preferred not to risk things, because I had a couple of scares. At the end, what I wanted was to be at the front and I felt good on the bike. When the team told me Rins was out of the race I relaxed a bit but did not want to stop –I wanted to win. On the last corner I tried to shut the door; Folger passed me but he was going too fast and I was able to recover the position. It was nice to win in these conditions and the outcome for the World Championship is better than I could have expected. Now it is time to enjoy the summer break.”