Tony Elias has a firm hold on the Moto2 championship, but it has been a while since the season leader has seen the top of the podium. Elias claimed his 7th win of the 2010 Moto2 season at Motegi, and inched closer to clinching the Moto2 title.
Elias beat out Julian Simon and Karl Abraham for the race win at Motegi. Simon and Elias separated from the pack early on, and swapped the spot at the top numerous times throughout the race.
Behind them, numerous Moto2 riders took spills around the Motegi track. Yusuke Teshime was the first to go down, and he was followed by Alex Baldolini and Fonsi Nieto.
Simon and Elias dueled at the front of the pack, and despite numerous attempts, Elias was never able to pull away from the second place rider. The two would fight to the finish, with Elias coming out on top by .3 seconds.
Elias' victory brings his overall lead to 81 points over Simon. Simon, who has finished second in the last four races, was also able to extend his lead over Andrea Iannone. Iannone finished outside of the top ten, and is now 21 points out of second place.
Karl Abraham was able to hold onto the third place spot, beating out Alex de Angelis and Scott Redding for his first Moto2 podium finish.
Moto2 - Motegi - Race Results
| Rider | Nation | Team | Time/Gap | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toni ELIAS | SPA | Gresini Racing Moto2 | 43'50.930 | |||||
| Julian SIMON | SPA | Mapfre Aspar Team | +0.315 | |||||
| Karel ABRAHAM | CZE | Cardion AB Motoracing | +9.839 | |||||
| Alex DE ANGELIS | RSM | JIR Moto2 | +10.178 | |||||
| Scott REDDING | GBR | Marc VDS Racing Team | +11.237 | |||||
| Yuki TAKAHASHI | JPN | Tech 3 Racing | +12.778 | |||||
| Stefan BRADL | GER | Viessmann Kiefer Racing | +17.284 | |||||
| Thomas LUTHI | SWI | Interwetten Moriwaki Moto2 | +17.892 | |||||
| Roberto ROLFO | ITA | Italtrans S.T.R. | +19.235 | |||||
| Alex DEBON | SPA | Aeroport de Castello - Ajo | +19.568 |
