After having posted the quickest time in FP1, Joe Roberts, the SoCal kid with English parents, converted that into Pole. A significant result, with American riders practically non-existent in the Moto GP championship after the sad and early loss of Nicky Haden. In second was Luca Marini, equally impressive with his lap times, and third Enea Bastianini.
Everyone fired off the start cleanly and on lap one, it was 1. Enea Bastianin, 2. Luca Marini 3. Jorge Martin, but not for long as Marini pulled into the lead.
With the race pace settling in Marini seemed to have the edge, keeping the lead with Joe Roberts and Jorge Martin behind him, close and tight. At this point, Tetsuta Nagashima was in 9th place, watch this space. The race order stayed the same until Enea Bastianini made his way up to 3rd, with Luca Marini keeping a consistent 1st place and Joe Roberts 2nd, holding his own in good company.
6 laps to go and Lorenzo Baldassarri and Tetsuta Nagashima came to play, this left Luca Marini in 1st Joe Roberts 2nd, Nagashimasan 3rd and Baldassarri 4th, then in a flash it was the American Roberts in the lead with Baldassarri 2nd and Marini pushed back to 3rd.
4 laps to go and it was Baldassarri 1st with Bastianini 2nd, the previous stalker Nagashima now 3rd with Roberts in 4th. By the last lap Tetsuta Nagashima had sliced his way through to the lead, Lorenzo Baldassarri second and Enea Bastianini 3rd, Captain America, Roberts, fourth, and that is how it finished. Having led a good portion of the race Luca Marini had dropped back to 13th and then dropped the bike!
This race ten years ago was won by Shoya Tomizawa, a bright young star of the Moto2 paddock, who 9 months later passed away after an accident at the San Marino GP. Tetsuta Nagashima, in the parc ferme interview, with tears in his eyes, paid tribute to his “brother” who he and we all sadly miss.
As we write this report our thoughts go out to those affected by Coronavirus. The number of new cases in South Korea has declined, let’s hope the rest of the World takes note #COVID2019. With the Thai GP postponed, we hope to be writing a report for Austin, April 5th.
For our full race report check our website
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Author: Martin Northern
Founder of Bike Directory
