Superb 2nd position for Tom Lüthi in Mugello
A superb race and a great battle between the four strongest man of the championship from start to finish and a 0.052 second gap between the winner, Italian Mattia Pasini, and Thomas Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten): the Italian Moto2 Grand Prix of Mugello in front of a record number of spectators was a rarely seen spectacle in the last couple of seasons. One week before the Catalan Grand Prix, this second position – a fifth podium in six races! – allows the Swiss rider to occupy a second position in the championship now only 13 points behind the provisional championship leader Franco Morbidelli. British Danny Kent, who was invited here to replace Iker Lecuona (Garage Plus Interwetten), had a small crash without consequences. Jesko Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten) finished off this difficult weekend with a 23rd position, gaining some more experience. Frederic Corminboeuf, the boss of CGBM Evolution, the company that aligns the two Swiss teams on the Moto2 World Championship grid, sums up the day: “As I said yesterday, we knew that Tom had a very good pace and he did his job once again. It is such a pleasure to see the whole team work in complete harmony and to see Tom make the most out of his talent on a race day. We missed out on this victory by 0.052 seconds and we know we will get it soon. In terms of the championship, it was important to beat Morbidelli for the first time this season. It was a pleasure working with Danny Kent this weekend. Unfortunately, the race ended too soon for him. Jesko Raffin has to find his form from the start of the season; I know, he knows, we all know that he can do better than this 23rd position today.”
He said…
Thomas Luthi (carXpert Interwetten, 2nd):
“What a race and what a battle! I slightly lost contact two or three times and had to make it up on the brakes. I gave it everything on the last lap but I knew that Mattia was the strongest out there in that particular section of the circuit where he passed Alex Marquez a few laps earlier. His pace was exceptional today, well done to him, he deserved to finally win his first Grand Prix in this class. I was not far off, we were right there as every weekend and in terms of the championship I did really well. Next is Catalunya in one week after two days of relax at home.”
Mugello (Italy). GP of Italy, Moto2: 1. Pasini (ITA, Kalex), 21 Laps, 39’30.974 (167.200 km/h); 2. Lüthi (SWI, Kalex, carXpert Interwetten), + 0.052; 3. A. Marquez (SPA, Kalex), + 0.136; 4. Morbidelli (ITA, Kalex), + 3.643; 5. Oliveira (POR, KTM), + 5.124; 6. Marini (ITA, Kalex), + 13.266; 7. Aegerter (SWI, Suter), + 13.299; 8. Corsi (ITA, Speed Up), + 13.703; 9. Navarro (SPA, Kalex), + 15.485; 10. B. Binder (RSA, KTM), + 16.036; 11. Schrötter (GER, Suter), + 16.039; 12. Syahrin (MAL, Kalex), + 16.310; 13. I. Viñales (SPA, Kalex), + 17.702; 14. Gardner (AUS, Tech 3), + 21.335; 15. Siméon (BEL, Kalex), à 22.740. Further: 23. Raffin (SWI, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), + 40.351. 28 classified. Not classified: Kent (GBR, Kalex, Garage Plus Interwetten), crash.
World championship standing (6/18): 1. Morbidelli, 113 points; 2. Lüthi (carXpert Interwetten), 100; 3. A. Marquez, 78; 4. Oliveira, 70; 5. Bagnaia (ITA, Kalex), 53; 6. Pasini, 49; 7. Aegerter, 46; 8. Nakagami (JPN, Kalex), 41; 9. Marini, 41; 10. Corsi, 35. Further: 22. Raffin (Garage Plus Interwetten), 5. 27 classified.
