Rea takes debut Moto2 podium

Britian's Gino Rea has stood on the Moto2 podium for the first time in his career, finishing in third at Sepang behind veteran Alex De Angelis and wet-weather specialist Anthony West in tricky conditions.

Britian's Gino Rea has stood on the Moto2 podium for the first time in his career, finishing in third at Sepang behind veteran Alex De Angelis and wet-weather specialist Anthony West in tricky conditions.

Rea came from the middle of the pack to run at the front after only a brace of laps and commenced a battle for the lead with De Angelis, Julian Simon and local wildcard Hafizh Syahrin who, wirh West, West sliced their way through from the back of the grid.

Weather added a twist, as sun started to dry out the track rapidly, with a dry line forming quickly. Series leader Marc Márquez was not taking any risks, and Petronas Raceline Malaysia’ Syahrin made his way past, much to the delight of the home fans.

With 13 laps remaining De Angelis was in the lead, yet Rea was having great ride and was putting the pressure on the San Marino rider, as West made his way into third past Interwetten-Paddock’s Tom Lüthi. A lap later Syahrin pushed past Lüthi as well, as Rea took the lead. 

The Malaysian wildcard was on a mission as he soon powered past West into third, and then skilfully took De Angelis, and then out-braked Rea for first in an amazing trio of overtakes. With nine laps remaining the rain started to fall heavier once more, and Rea began to fight back with Syahrin holding strong, until De Angelis and West also got involved in the battle for first.

There was however huge drama with seven laps remaining as Márquez lost the front of his bike and crashed out of the race, with Espargaró in a strong enough place to take the title fight to the next race. On the same lap there were also crashes for Kiefer Racing’s Mike Di Meglio and Mapfre Aspar Moto2 duo of Nico Terol and Jordi Torres. A lap later, Lüthi also put his bike in the gravel.

With four laps left De Angelis was pulling out a small gap in front with West in tow, but Rea was fighting back venomously as a three-way tussle ensued. This was however cut short as the red FLag was shown with two laps to go with too much rain falling on the track. Rea was in the lead when the flag was waved, yet the classification was taken from the previous lap, giving De Angelis his maiden win of the season, with West is second and Rea in third, both taking their first-ever Moto2 podiums. 

With Márquez’s title rival Espargaró finishing in 11th place, Márquez was unable to secure his title with only a 48-point lead and will have to try once more in Phillip Island. Fourth place went to Syahrin, ahead of Simón, Speed Master’s Andrea Iannone, Kallio, Smith, Technomag-CIP’s Dominique Aegerter and Espargaró’s teammate Esteve Rabat.

By MotoGP desk

Image by www.SMARTFotos.co.uk