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USA
Race report

Misano Moto2: Fernandez scores controversial victory

Augusto Fernandez beat Fabio Di Giannantonio to claim victory in a thrilling Moto2 San Marino Grand Prix after an aggressive last-lap move.

Podium: race winner Augusto Fernandez, Pons HP40, second place Fabio Di Giannantonio, Speed Up Racing, third place Alex Marquez, Marc VDS Racing

Podium: race winner Augusto Fernandez, Pons HP40, second place Fabio Di Giannantonio, Speed Up Racing, third place Alex Marquez, Marc VDS Racing

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

The Pons rider was forced to run wide at the fast Curvone corner on the last lap while chasing Di Giannantonio, and used that momentum to throw his bike up the inside of the Speed Up at the Carro hairpin – the pair making contact in the process.

Race Direction placed the incident under investigation, but after both riders attend a hearing with the stewards, no further action was taken.

Di Giannantonio – having secured his first Moto2 pole on Saturday – grabbed the holeshot off the line ahead of Fernandez, while championship leader Alex Marquez dropped to sixth after a poor launch.

Marquez quickly passed Tetsuta Nagashima for fifth, and took fourth from Tom Luthi on the following lap before capitalising on a moment for Remy Gardner exiting the Tramonto right-hander on the third tour to move up to the podium places.

Di Giannantonio survived a rear-end snap on his Speed Up at Turn 3 on the second lap, and dragged Fernandez along to a half-second gap over the chasing Marquez and Luthi.

Fernandez made his first attempt at taking the lead trying to use the switchback between Turns 1 and 2 at the start of lap nine, but was countered by Di Giannantonio at Turn 3.

Another error from the Speed Up rider allowed Fernandez through at Turn 6, but Di Giannantonio immediately struck back at Quercia.

Marquez followed suit at the same turn to move up to second, with a brief scrap allowing Di Giannantonio to open up a lead of seven tenths as Fernandez reclaimed second on lap 13.

Fernandez put on a late charge to reel in Di Giannantonio in the latter stages, and tried once more to take the lead in the opening complex of corner.

The Speed Up rider held firm there, but was powerless to retaliate after Fernandez’s aggressive Carro hairpin move moments later.

Marc VDS rider Marquez completed the podium to keep his points lead at a damage-limiting 26 over Fernandez heading to Aragon.

Luthi put himself back into late podium contention following an early error, but had to settle for fourth aboard his Intact GP machine ahead of Gresini’s Sam Lowes, who took his best result of the year in fifth.

Brad Binder (KTM) secured sixth after an aggressive battle with Speed Up’s Jorge Navarro, while Xavi Vierge (Marc VDS), Enea Bastianini (Italtrans) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Pons).

SAG duo Nagashima and Gardner crashed out in the early stages, as did Tech 3’s Marco Bezzecchi and Petronas SRT stand-in Adam Norrodin.

Mattia Pasini (Tasca) and the second Intact bike of Marcel Schrotter were absent, after the riders suffered back and shoulder injuries respectively during practice.

Race results:

Cla # Rider Bike Laps Gap
1 40 Spain Augusto Fernandez
Kalex 25
2 21 Italy Fabio Di Giannantonio
Speed Up 25 0.186
3 73 Spain Alex Marquez
Kalex 25 1.283
4 12 Switzerland Thomas Luthi
Kalex 25 2.733
5 22 United Kingdom Sam Lowes
Kalex 25 8.764
6 41 South Africa Brad Binder
KTM 25 8.952
7 9 Spain Jorge Navarro
Speed Up 25 9.928
8 97 Spain Xavi Vierge
Kalex 25 12.844
9 33 Italy Enea Bastianini
Kalex 25 13.916
10 7 Italy Lorenzo Baldassarri
Kalex 25 15.338
11 10 Italy Luca Marini
Kalex 25 17.881
12 88 Spain Jorge Martin
KTM 25 20.511
13 5 Italy Andrea Locatelli
Kalex 25 21.714
14 35 Thailand Somkiat Chantra
Kalex 25 28.673
15 62 Italy Stefano Manzi
MV 25 30.791
16 16 United States Joe Roberts
KTM 25 31.679
17 64 Netherlands Bo Bendsneyder
NTS 25 32.104
18 77 Switzerland Dominique Aegerter
MV 25 32.324
19 24 Italy Simone Corsi
NTS 25 34.048
20 96 United Kingdom Jake Dixon
KTM 25 45.708
21 27 Spain Iker Lecuona
KTM 25 47.521
22 3 Germany Lukas Tulovic
KTM 25 54.782
23 65 Germany Philipp Ottl
KTM 25 57.945
24 36 Andi Izdihar
Kalex 25 1'03.822
25 18 Andorra Xavi Cardelus
KTM 25 1'07.021
45 Japan Tetsuta Nagashima
Kalex 13 12 Laps
87 Australia Remy Gardner
Kalex 10 15 Laps
11 Italy Nicolo Bulega
Kalex 10 15 Laps
72 Italy Marco Bezzecchi
KTM 6 19 Laps
47 Malaysia Adam Norrodin
Kalex 5 20 Laps

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