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Moto2, Zarco with a photo finish race on the Sachsenring

The Frenchman beats Folger at the wire to move into the championship lead. Excellent race for Italians Pasini, Baldassarri and Marini, a pity for Morbidelli

Zarco with a photo finish race on the Sachsenring

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The German Moto2 race was a great one, with 29 laps where anything and everything happened: crashes, passes, upsets and a photo finish, with Frenchman Johann Zarco's front wheel crossing the line first ahead of German home town hero Jonas Folger, second by centimetres.

With this umpteenth win, the fourth this year, and Alex Rins' DNF because of a crash, now the French defending world champion is at the top of the championship: Folger tried. I didn't expect it, but I was able to open up the throttle better than he did and I won! I am happy, not only because now I am alone in the championship lead with this result, but also because I had never won before on this track.”

A perfect weekend for Johann, between his twenty-sixth birthday, confirmation that he will be in MotoGP in 2017, a win and the championship lead. What more could one want?!

Behind the podium that was completed by Julian Simon on the third step, came three Italians who did very well: Mattia Pasini finished fourth after an impressive comeback, Lorenzo Baldassarri was fifth despite a dislocated shoulder and Luca Marini sixth, without ever having raced here before. It was a pity about Franco Morbidelli who fell during the race. Zero points for him, but at least he was not lacking speed.

Only 15 riders crossed the finish line, with Remy Gardner taking home a nice twelfth place, just behind pole man Nakagami.

Standings: Zarco 151 points, Rins 126, Lowes 121

THE RACE CHRONICLE - The first to take on the downhill right-hander is Johann Zarco, followed by Nakagami and Rins, and it is the Japanese rider who shoots into the lead, overtaking the Frenchman on the outside. The first lap ends with a compact group. Behind the Japanese rider all the riders are tightly packed and battling fiercely, with Baldassarri and Corsi in sixth and seventh place.

In the second lap, Nakagami tries to pull the pin, Rins is in second and Zarco loses a few position to Folger and Schrotter. Morbidelli is sixth and Corsi seventh. Baldassarri drops back a few positions and is now in night, with Wilairot ordered to do a ride-through.

It's the fourth lap, and the first to fall is Portuguese rider Oliveira who goes down on turn 8, thrown from his bike. Nakagami and Rins lead at the front, with German Folger third. Another German, Marcel Schrotter, crashes on turn 8 at the same spot as Oliveira. Luca Marini is in the top ten, lying in ninth and coming back after starting from the rear guard.

In the fifth lap Nakagami is still in the lead with Rins following. Simone Corsi goes down too, falling in turn 8 like the others after losing the front. The rain continues to fall and so does Nakagami in turn 2, at the start of the sixth lap, leaving the lead to Spaniard Rins.

So, 23 laps from the end Rins is in the lead, Folger second and Zarco seventh. Morbidelli is in an excellent fourth position with Lowes in sixth and Luca Marini amazingly seventh, with a pace similar to the top three.

Folger moves into the lead making a nice manoeuvre to overtake Rins, who is unable to fight off the German, and Lowes falls to the ground on turn 6. The race gets increasingly more difficult and staying vertical is no easy feat for anyone.

20 laps from the end, Rins moves into first place again, overtaking Folger for the lead. Behind the German, French rider Zarco is bringing Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez with him. The race is long and in the back Lowes gets back onto the track after a long delay.

In the eleventh lap, Rins leads, Folger is second, Zarco is being attacked by Morbidelli who is absolutely intent on a podium finish on a track he loves, Alex Marquez studies the situation, waiting for his chance to attack. Wilairot and Simeon also go down, with the Belgian rider rejoining without his tail fairing that was smashed after crashing in the gravel.

Morbidelli overtakes Folger and is now in third, chasing down Zarco. Folger appears to be having difficulty. Marina is battling with Simon for sixth place. There are 16 laps to go and Mattia Pasini also moves up all the way to seventh place, exploiting his smooth style on wet asphalt.

With all these crashes, Alex Marquez also falls, taking a slide 14 laps from the end. The leading three are in an evaluation phase, with no one attempting a risky pass, but wait, Franco Morbidelli proves everyone wrong and suddenly overtakes Zarco to begin hunting down Rins, still riding in the lead.

Franco is lapping tighter than his rivals and therefore has less track to cover. He is faster and taking less risk, overtaking Rins as well to move into the lead with a spectacular and authoritarian style. 12 laps from the end he tries to pull the pin and move away from Zarco, now lying second.

In the eighteenth lap, Rins falls back to second place again and Thomas Luthi crashes out, ending his race early. In the lead, Franco now has a nine tenths advantage over Rins, who is still battling fiercely with Zarco.

It's the nineteenth lap and Morbidelli still leads the race, drifting slightly in some corners, maintaining perfect control of his Honda CBR600-powered and Dunlop shod Kalex. The lost grip recovered by the riders is all merit of their right wrists and not some electronic devilry, banned in Moto2.

With eight laps to the chequered flag, Zarco overtakes Rins to move into second place. Folger is fourth and Nakagami moves into fifteenth, now in the race and in the points zone after his crash.

There is an unexpected upset at turn 1. Morbidelli drops his bike and ends up in the German sand, losing first place. Franco leaves the race lead to Zarco and gets back on the track in eleventh place behind Luca Marini, in tenth. In last place, Simeon falls again and this time bids the German race farewell.

In the twenty-fourth lap, Zarco is first, the German Folger is second, trying to close the gap behind the Frenchman with the German fans screaming wildly to cheer him on. The gap between the two is very small with just a few laps to race, but there is no lack of mistakes in the centre group. Marquez goes down again and Lowes also runs long again on an escape path.

Also running onto an escape route, tumbling and desperate, is Alex Rins, throwing away his race and, at that point, leaving the championship lead to Zarco, who is still leading the race. Two laps from the end, the Frenchman is at a crossroads: with Folger breathing down his pipes, should I defend my first place or should I not take any risks and finish second?!

The answer comes on the last lap. The Frenchman defends his position tooth and nail and, despite an attack by Folger right on the last turn, Johann opens the throttle coming out of the corner and beats the German with a photo finish, bringing a brilliant race to a close. Third place goes to Julian Simon to put the Spaniard back on the podium, and behind him come the Italian riders after a comeback race through a thousand hindrances.

 

 

 

 

 

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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