VOL. 53 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 13, 2016 P79
Sandro Cortese had also come
through, and was a second
adrift.
Alex Marquez (EG-VDS
Kalex) had dropped away,
and at the end was in danger
of getting caught for 10th by
Marcel Schrotter (AGR Kalex).
Vierge, Marini, Wilairot and Raf-
fin wrapped up the rest of the
points.
Zarco's earlier points lead
has melted away over the last
three races, and his chances
of becoming the first success-
ful Moto2 title defender is now
under threat. He has 194 points
and Rins 191. But Lowes's chal-
lenge is effectively over, drop-
ping to fourth on 137 to Luthi's
141. Folger has 127.
Rins responded bravely, say-
ing later, "It was a hard race for
me and my shoulder, with a lot
of pain."
But with five laps to go the
Italian teenager was on his back
wheel, and took the lead with
two left. Rins carried on attack-
ing, until on the last lap his rival
braked early into the tricky right-
handers near the end of the lap.
"We almost touched," said Rins,
who was forced to swerve wide,
and concede the victory.
Baldassari was naturally
overjoyed by his first win. "I was
second at Mugello, and now I
wanted to be first. Rins was rid-
ing very well, but I pushed to the
limit."
Nakagami had quickly got
ahead of Zarco, and left him
in the thick of it as he moved
through to take third at half
distance, as one victim, Lowes,
crashed after hitting a bump.
The Japanese moved clear at
once; Zarco took a little longer,
and was condemned to fourth.
Morbidelli was fifth, from
Luthi. Hafizh Syahrin (Petronas
Kalex) had caught the group and
passed Jonas Folger (Dynavolt
Kalex) for seventh as the Ger-
man ran wide. His teammate
(Above) Second-place finisher
Alex Rins (40) took advantage
of another tough day for Johann
Zarco and now trails the points
lead by just three. (Left) First-
time winner Lorenzo Baldassarri
topped the Moto2 class.
