MOTOGP
FIM MOTOGP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 2 / APRIL 6-8, 2018
TERMAS DE RÍO HONDO / SANTIAGO DEL ESTERO PROVINCE, ARGENTINA
P78
Moto2
Mercifully settled conditions and
an absence of the fine misty
drizzle meant the second race of
the weekend was declared offi-
cially "Dry," and remained so for
full distance, amid the crackling
tension of a second successive
fierce fight for full distance.
There were still damp patch-
es, however, including a slight
stream across the corner before
the long back straight. It was
a wobble over this that gave
second-time Moto2 winner Mat-
tia Pasini (Italtrans Kalex) his
biggest scare, and gave Red
Bull KTM rider Miguel Oliveira
his first chance to take the lead
at the other end of the straight.
That time and the next Pasini
grabbed it straight back, the vet-
eran Italtrans Kalex rider holding
on to the finish, by when first-
time pole qualifier Xavi Vierge
(Dynavolt Kalex) had fought his
way back and pushed through to
second.
The trio crossed the line cov-
ered by just over a second, after
Pasini's determined speed foiled
every challenge.
"I didn't think about the other
riders—only myself, corner by
corner, lap by lap, to not make
any mistakes. I felt quite com-
fortable, and I was able to man-
age it to the end," Pasini said.
First-time pole qualifier Vierge
had led away, but Lorenzo
Baldassarri (Pons HP40 Kalex)
seized the lead into the first cor-
ner, and held it for two laps.
He stayed in the podium mix
almost throughout, just losing
touch by the end.
By then, Alex Marquez (EG-
Mattia Pasini
(54) used all his
experience and
guile to take his
second Moto2
career win over a
determined Xavi
Vierge (97).
