ROAD RACE
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 8 / JUNE 26, 2016
TT CIRCUIT ASSEN / ASSEN, THE NETHERLANDS
P56
Moto2
SIX YEARS LATER
The sun was shining at the
start of Moto2, but it didn't last.
The rain held off long enough,
however, for more than two-
thirds distance to be run, and a
completed race to be declared
when there were still officially
three laps to go.
Thomas Luthi was on pole,
from Johann Zarco (Ajo Kalex)
and Dominique Aegerter (CarX-
pert Kalex). Luthi led his Garage
Plus Kalex into the first corner
and for the first three laps, with
Aegerter and second-row start-
ers Sam Lowes (Federal Oils
Kalex), Franco Morbidelli (EG-
VDS Kalex) and Takaaki Nakaga-
mi (Idemitsu Kalex) jockeying for
position behind him. Zarco was
in close attendance as well.
They stayed close, as Mor-
bidelli took to the front from laps
four to nine, but all the while
Nakagami was picking his way
forward.
It took Nakagami a couple of
goes to get ahead, but on lap
10, he was able to make it stick,
and immediately started to open
up a gap—a second by lap 12,
and up to three seconds just two
laps later.
From then on he was in con-
trol for his first long-awaited win,
and the first by a Japanese rider
since Yuki Takahashi won in
Catalunya six years ago in 2010.
The battle got a little stretched
behind him; Aegerter had al-
ready dropped out of contention.
Morbidelli gave way to Zarco on
lap 14, the pair of them gaining
a little gap on Lorenzo Baldas-
sarri (Forward Kalex), who had
come through from eighth on lap
one, and was now engaged with
Lowes.
Luthi had run into grip prob-
lems and dropped behind both
Takaaki Nakagami gave Japan its
first Moto2 win in six years.
Nakagami took
control late in
the race and
pulled away.
